Central Part of the Fresco of the Glory of Heaven (Giovanni)
We have one very spoiled cat who is our family pet. Now this cat spent the first few weeks as our pet living inside our home so that she could get used to the family and become familiar with us. This was so that as she grew older she would be able to come when called (sometimes) and return home each morning after wandering around in the night-time as cats are wont to do.
Once the kitten was about two weeks old, she was confident enough to basically treat the house as her own personal palace and my family and I as her servants. And it was at about this point that we started allowing our cat to go outside and to make her home outside our house.
Now, when this happened we were a little worried that the cat would not return home to us. We knew that she would start wondering the neighbourhood and meeting other animals and people on her adventures and as a result she might chose to live elsewhere instead of at home.
But there was one thing that we did not factor in when we were worrying away about this cat. We did not factor in the food. Early on after our cat joined our family, we bought her an automatic feeding machine. This was not because we were too lazy or distracted to feed her, but rather because we sometimes go on holiday as a family and during those times away from home we wished to ensure that our cat was fed. This automatic feeder is set to deliver the cat her food twice a day. The first time at 6:30am on the dot and the second time at 3:30pm on the dot.
Now, our cat spends her days trying to be let inside our home. Every time a door is opened, our cat positions herself so that she can duck into the house and make herself comfortable on a couch, mat or chair. And I – as the cleaner of the house – spend my days booting her out of the house so that she can live in her territory, and we can live in ours. There are only two times each day when our cat does NOT try to get inside our home. Once in the morning, between 6:15 am and 6:45am and once in the afternoon, between 3:15pm and 3:45pm. While she is waiting for her food she sits patiently on top of her feeding machine and then spends her time eating her food without even looking over at us once.
And I have been thinking about that today because my cat is more clever than I shall ever be. You see, that feeding machine and food is – for the cat – like Heaven should be to me. When she senses the food time approaching, she is completely fixated on her food. And this is how I should be with Heaven. And Heaven is all around me. I am completely surrounded and I should be fixated on Heaven itself… And yet, I spend my days distracted by Earthly things.
And today I realise that I have spent a lifetime being just a little bit less clever than that cat!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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