Cats groom themselves for many reasons. The obvious one is to bathe and untangle their hair. But cats also groom to sooth themselves when they are anxious or afraid. They groom themselves when they are bored to idle the time away with vigorous slurps. If wounded, cats groom the injured spot to ease the pain. Cats can cause themselves harm by over-grooming. They can lick themselves so much that they begin to wear their coats bald in places and create sores on their skin. They become obsessed with self pleasure, and fail to realize the harm they are causing themselves. A good thing turns bad with unhealthy consequences.
The same holds true for the human species. We groom ourselves in various ways for various reasons. We do so physically with hair-dos, make-up and clothing. These make us feel attractive and confident. We groom ourselves sometimes with our tongues, not by literally licking ourselves like cats, but by using them to boast to others of our accomplishments and self-importance. We sometimes groom ourselves by manipulating others to do what we want them to do for us. We use them for our advancement and pleasure, and we feel good about pulling one over on them. In different ways, grooming can make us look good for a while, but it may finally cause harm by paying too much attention to ourselves.
We are not made to be the center of attention. When that happens, our attractiveness becomes ugly and off-putting. Like Narcissus in the ancient Greek myth, we starve ourselves by focusing only on our likes, desires and pleasures. There is no nourishment for the mind, soul and spirit from simply grooming ourselves. We may feel good for a while, but that sensation is fleeting. It provides no substance to feed our higher faculties where our true beauty lies. When we think and feel deeply and act based on these, we show more than ourselves to others. We disclose the order of life as it is meant to be, namely, rooted in God and shared by all God’s children. This focus leads to serving others, helping them without begrudging the aid, looking for what we can do to groom others rather than ourselves, making others’ lives better and rejoicing in their benefit.
In our affluence, retirement or self-satisfaction, we can spend a lot of time pursuing our own pleasure. This self-grooming can become harmful to our true selves, made in God’s image. Seeking excessive comfort for ourselves can lead to wounds in our souls and spirits that can only heal when we stop licking them—when we stop paying attention only to our hurts, desires or pleasures, and start offering ourselves for the benefit of others.
Baxter grooms to keep his hair clean and untangled. He’s a good and healthy cat. Our
grooming would do well to follow his lead to keep us good and holy humans.
