A brief meditation upon my cats (with a tiny bit of theology at the end)
Our cats love to sit in the windows of our living room and kitchen. They bask in the sun. They watch the squirrels and falling leaves intently, as if they would like to pounce. Moshe can be relied on to serenade a moth at the window for hours, giving the impression that if only he could get at that flippy flappy thing... something exciting would happen.
Once or twice, Emma has shown a small amount of interest in going outside when one of the doors is open. This curiosity led us to invest in two dog harnesses (okay three -- we made the mistake of thinking Moshe would fit a "small dog" harness the first time) and two leashes. Today we finally got inspired to try them out.
It was a beautiful fall afternoon. The sun was shining. The temperature was perfect. The cats were terrified. When deposited on the back deck, Moshe immediately started looking for a hiding place. When placed on the grass, Emma pranced along as if trying not to touch the funny tickly stuff with her feet or legs. To her credit, Emma was more adventuresome and exploratory, and did none of the plaintive *SCARED* meowing that Moeshe did in his first few minutes outside. But both had pounding hearts and a careful, defensive crouch for most of their brief expedition.
Eventually they loosened up a bit -- enough to sniff the garage and the plants and the perimeter of our back yarn. Both were very interested in the area under our deck, which probably looked nice and protected, and which we did not let them go into. But they never really lost the defensive crouch, and their heart rates didn't really seem to slow down much. When offered an open door back into the kitchen, Emma took it without any hesitation.
And now they're back in their comfort zone, basking in the sun and sitting on laps and (aside from wondering why dinner is taking so long) being their usual relaxed, happy, kitty selves. And I find myself wondering how much of them is in us, every time we leave our comfort zone and try something new. To some extent, my concept of an active God would be the human to our cat -- the one who pulls us outside our normal routines and experiences and encourages us to explore and try to relax and feel confident and put off retreating to our safe spot a little while longer.
Once or twice, Emma has shown a small amount of interest in going outside when one of the doors is open. This curiosity led us to invest in two dog harnesses (okay three -- we made the mistake of thinking Moshe would fit a "small dog" harness the first time) and two leashes. Today we finally got inspired to try them out.
It was a beautiful fall afternoon. The sun was shining. The temperature was perfect. The cats were terrified. When deposited on the back deck, Moshe immediately started looking for a hiding place. When placed on the grass, Emma pranced along as if trying not to touch the funny tickly stuff with her feet or legs. To her credit, Emma was more adventuresome and exploratory, and did none of the plaintive *SCARED* meowing that Moeshe did in his first few minutes outside. But both had pounding hearts and a careful, defensive crouch for most of their brief expedition.
Eventually they loosened up a bit -- enough to sniff the garage and the plants and the perimeter of our back yarn. Both were very interested in the area under our deck, which probably looked nice and protected, and which we did not let them go into. But they never really lost the defensive crouch, and their heart rates didn't really seem to slow down much. When offered an open door back into the kitchen, Emma took it without any hesitation.
And now they're back in their comfort zone, basking in the sun and sitting on laps and (aside from wondering why dinner is taking so long) being their usual relaxed, happy, kitty selves. And I find myself wondering how much of them is in us, every time we leave our comfort zone and try something new. To some extent, my concept of an active God would be the human to our cat -- the one who pulls us outside our normal routines and experiences and encourages us to explore and try to relax and feel confident and put off retreating to our safe spot a little while longer.