It’s taken me almost a week to stop looking around for Bruce, the black and white cat that rescued me. The sympathy card from the vet with an impression of his paw print reinforced the fact that I wouldn’t be having my companion anymore. You get so used to the animals you love that when they’re gone, it really doesn’t seem possible.
Those photos of Ukrainians early in this terrible war showed them with their cat carriers, sharing their meager food supplies with their cats in the subways. Ukrainians had dogs as well, but it seems most apartment dwellers had cats.
Some people believe there’s a difference between dog people and cat people, but I’m not so sure there’s that much difference. Losing any pet tears a hole in your heart, and the other pets really do notice that someone is no longer there. When the spring comes, I’ll take his ashes and work them into the catnip that Bruce loved to sit in. That way I’ll never really lose him.
Prayer for the Day
Knowing we need to feel your presence in our lives, O Holy One,
We look for your embrace, reminding us that we are not alone;
Seeking an inner truth not found in the world around us,
We respond to your call to be witnesses of your peace.
May we find joy in our commitment to your gospel,
And peace in our faithfulness to your word.
In the name of the One who comforts us in loneliness,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Time spent with a cat is never wasted.
- Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist (1856-1939)
A cat can make you feel well rested when you're tired or turn a rage into a calm just by sitting on your lap. His very nearness is a healing song.
- Shannon Hale, American writer, from Book of a Thousand Days
And God said, Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 24-25