The old yellow feral cat finally showed up again this morning with a terrible gash on its back. The gash was too large for having been inflicted by another cat, even too large for one of the small foxes I catch a glimpse of running through the woods about two blocks from my house. Must have been a large dog that had been allowed to run loose.
My 16-year old black cat died this past week. It had been steadily losing weight and its eyes became glassy. I would hold the cat in my lap, but a day or two before he went off to die, he was sweating. He crawled under the porch and just went to sleep, never waking up. His younger partner kept meowing at me and rushing toward the porch.
Cats, like people, must sense death. I wonder if they mourn like people or if like people they become inured when there is much death around them. The numbers of deaths from the virus and its variants have been steadily rising, but apart from a few stores with signs of “Masks encouraged,” no one seems to take note.
Prayer for the Day
O God, we often live as if we do not need you,
Pretending that life is what we make it.
In those moments when we receive the gift of faith,
We assume it was given for ourselves alone.
Awaken us by your spirit to a fuller dimension of faith
Leading us to find in our neighbors the opportunities for love.
In the name of him who taught us a new way to live,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
The story of humanity is not a story of a few people who had huge, gigantic effects on the world. That's only the story we hear, because it's the easy story to tell. Caring for ourselves and other people is the only thing that has ever mattered to the future of our species.
Hank Green, American science writer
In Ojibwe and Cree culture, leadership didn't mean power; it meant caring.
Tanya Talaga, Canadian Anishinaabe writer
In you, O Lord, I seek refuge, do not ever let me be put to shame;
In your righteousness deliver me.
Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me
Psalm 31: 1-2