Easter Meows: Hiding in Place

Sometimes Baxter hides. He hides when he is afraid, like when the vacuum cleaner starts. But he also hides just to play a game sometimes. I come home or get out of my chair after reading for a spell, and he is nowhere to be found. I check all of his favorite spots — his bed, my bed, choice chairs, the rug near the heating vent, the rug near the sunny window, the bathtub—but no trace of him. He vanishes in plain sight. He doesn’t go away. He just blends into the surroundings in silence. He might be near a leg under the dining room table. He might sit quietly by the door to the garage, and most elusive of all, he might go into the front office which I never use except to store some records. He just sits there on the floor, wondering how long it will take me to figure out where he is. If Baxter feels sorry for me during this search for the obvious, he sometimes will answer when I call his name, but only after some time has passed. After all, he has to win this game by proudly prancing across my path as if to say, “I was there all the time. What’s wrong with you?” This is his version of hide and seek, but we never take turns at different sides in the game. He is always hiding, and I am always seeking. He eventually wins, and I have a good chuckle.

God plays hide and seek sometimes. Like Baxter, He can disappear by quietly blending into the familiar surroundings. Because they are familiar, we think we know what’s there, so we often don’t take a second look. But hidden in the common places of our lives, there’s a quiet presence, blending into the surroundings but adding an uncommon dimension to them. We need to search for this silent divine partner with the tools at our disposal.

One of those tools is attention. We need to give God our attention. We live with so many distractions that we sometimes don’t realize how we have lost our focus. We just go from one thing to another, checking off our “to do” list, and feeling exhausted in the end, wondering what we accomplished. God hides at times to get us to focus on Him. When we seek the Lord earnestly, our other responsibilities fall into place in their proper priority. We take on one thing at a time and make progress step by step, instead of scattering our energies and getting nowhere. Making God the center of our lives puts everything else in its proper place for our attention and energy.

Another tool is our imagination, so that we can focus our attention differently. If we keep looking in the same way in the same places, we may come up empty. The hidden God calls us in a new direction. God is where we least expect Him at times—in routine transactions with others, in the drudgery of daily or weekly chores, at the dinner table on a work day, or cleaning up afterwards with the family. We miss Him because we get lost in getting the job done. We forget to look at all that is happening as we go about the tasks of living. For instance, at the checkout counter, do we notice the people and what they do to serve us? Sure it’s their job, but it’s also a meeting place where God shows us how to create a more civil and humane community. The same holds true for driving, raising legitimate complaints, and helping others. It’s all in the way we do these things, and not just in getting them done. God is hidden in our patience, our courtesy, our ability to listen and even disagree without rancor. His presence can surprise us when we enjoy what we do because we do it together with a purpose bigger than any single person’s desires. When we work for God’s Kingdom rather than our own, everyone prospers with a happier way of life.

So look around and try some new approaches in how we go about our daily life chores. God is playing hide and seek with us, and we may not realize it. Look for His holy presence in what we have to do, and we may be surprised at where and how He turns up. While God always wins, we can enjoy the diving comedy and our role in it.

Easter Meows: Catnip Magic

Catnip does strange things to cats. Baxter craves it at times. He rubs his head over it. He eats it. He lies on it. If it is in a toy, he bats it around, grabs it, and then bites it. Catnip will settle his stomach if it is a little off. It will calm him if he is agitated. It stimulates his energy to go a little crazy. It is a universal elixir for Baxter, balancing out whatever seems to be throwing him off his well-rounded life of eating, sleeping, purring, meowing and starting all that over again.

Catnip is a natural herb. It doesn’t have to be mixed or synthesized, refrigerated or cooked, and it can be used through multiple delivery systems—eaten, smelled, packaged or loose. It comes dried or fresh growing. It is very versatile yet quite effective. It seems to cure what ails the cat, at least for a while, and according to Baxter, it is worth a try to improve anything from arthritis to the ordinary blues. Catnip is the universal cat medicine, the aspirin of the cat world. It takes away the pain and gives a little relief from the wear and tear of daily living. It stimulates both euphoria and peace according to the needs of the nipper. It’s a gift to the cat world.

The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to our world. It was released through Christ’s death and resurrection, and once set loose, it cannot be contained until the whole world is saved. Like catnip for cats, the Spirit provides what is needed to cope with the vicissitudes of life faithfully. You see, life is so unpredictable and varied that one size can’t fit all. To grow in faith we have to respond to whatever life brings to bear upon us. Sometimes that calls for steadying ourselves to remain constant in our practices and understanding. At other times, the Spirit provides us the courage and strength to meet a new challenge, to reach out in faith in a new way, still uncharted and untested. The early Church in the Acts of the Apostles knew both of these effects of the Spirit. It stood up to the challenges of some of the synagogue officials trying to stop this new preaching about Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophets. It supported Saint Paul in his mission to the Gentiles, and brought Saint Peter around to seeing this work as an extension of God’s ways in the post-Easter world. The Holy Spirit is the gyrocompass we use to navigate the balance beam on which we are asked to walk in our path through life. It gives our spirit energy and strength, a source of healing and forgiveness, and an attitude that keeps us upright on the beam while we move forward.

As we approach the close of the Easter season, let us open the door to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through the Spirit we live the mystery of death and resurrection each day. Through this Spirit our hearts take on the attitude of God towards others, and our actions become the work of God through us. Through this Spirit we share a communion of life with each other that is greater and deeper than family or friendship.

So don’t forget the Spirit. It’s God’s natural elixir for us to live holy lives. Although Baxter might not think so, it is better than catnip for a balanced life of discipleship. Pray for the Spirit in the Church. “Come, Holy Spirit, fills the hearts of Thy Faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your Love.”

Easter Meows: Grooming

Cats groom themselves, and Baxter is no exception. Grooming has a number of purposes in the feline world. It keeps things like coat, paws and nose clean. It fills in time when there are no interest prey to watch. It soothes the cat when something upsets it. A few hardly licks of the back or shoulder, and whatever was causing anxiety and frustration seems to disappear. In fact, one of the ways you know that you have an emotionally troubled cat is if he or she grooms him or herself incessantly. Too much of a good thing turns bad when neurotic compulsiveness causes sin irritation. There is another down side to grooming -- hairballs! All that loose fur that the grooming relieves from the outside can gum up the insides. The hacking and full body peristalsis that can result are anything but pleasant for both pet and owner.

To groom the hard-to-reach places, cats have this remarkable ability to contort their bodies. They can twist in almost 180 degrees or fold themselves in half to get every inch of their torsos for a comforting lick or two. they won't stop stretching and bending until they get to the exact spot that needs attention. Comfort is worth the indignity of a compromised position. Grooming is all about the cat making him or herself feel comfortable, safe and secure. Baxter always feels better about himself after a few well-placed licks.

We have our own way of making ourselves feel comfortable and secure. Instead of licking our physical surface, we lick the internal side of ourselves, our spirits. When we are hurt by life's unfairness and rejection, we sometimes keep the wounds clean and fresh by wallowing in self-pity. When we are insecure and nervous, we do what it takes to feel at ease again -- eat too much, smoke, indulge our sexual fantasies, or overwork. When depressed or despairing about our significance or importance, we do something to convince ourselves that we matter and make a difference. Maybe we shop. Maybe we drink too much alcohol. Maybe we gossip about others' flaws and failures. Whatever it is, we build ourselves up by reaching for something that we think adds to our stature or dulls the pain of feeling small. We soothe our wounded spirit with something that licks our ego and brings a comfortable feeling for a while. But it doesn't last.

Our self-generated comforts all wear off in time, and we are left with the same wounded, anxious, depressed person in the mirror. We can't heal ourselves permanently. The wounds, anxiety and despair are too deep, rooted in original sin and the power of evil that is beyond our abilities to control. Only a power greater than ourselves and our devices can heal our souls, quiet our self-doubts, and lift our spirits. This is the power of the Risen Lord that promises peace beyond the grave, instills confidence through faith, and brings hope based upon a love that death could not contain. The resurrection grooms us for a new kind of life, one that finds comfort not in what we can do for ourselves, but in what God can do for us through sharing our talents with each other in the Lord's name. That is what God's love looks like when it grooms us into something beautiful. We discovered a communion of life that uses the circumstances we are in to reveal a deeper dimension, the mystery of grace saving us and ennobling us in the process.

Baxter needs a lick of his tongue to keep him calm and balanced. We need a lick of grace to find peace and our true worth. Let us help each other find the beauty secret we are looking for and the comfort it brings by sharing God's grace in our service to and with each other. We will all feel better that way -- less anxious, more secure, healed and at peace -- without the problem of hairballs.

Easter Meows: Free of Fear

Baxter is a scaredy cat. He hides under the bed when the vacuum cleaner turns on. He is easily startled by any loud noise. When I hold him in my arms and take him out-side on a sunny day, he gets easily spooked and tries to hide his head in the crook of my arm for safety. Anything unusual, unfamiliar or unexpected can raise a fright for him who likes to pose as my ferocious feline. Although he is bulky like a lion and likes to make threatening hisses when it’s safe to do so, under all this bravado, Baxter truly is a pussy cat—the cowardly lion wishing he were more but, when the test comes, failing to find it.

He is so much like us, isn’t he? We pose our courage in words and gestures when we know we can escape if a real test comes. We think of ourselves as strong and resolute in our beliefs and values, until they come into conflict with our self-interest and comfort-able life style. We use back room tactics to criticize others, but back off from directly facing them with our concerns and the reason for them. We take the course of least resis-tance to avoid hassles. It sometimes becomes ―live and let live‖ not out of respect for others, but out of convenience for ourselves. The price of peace becomes our passivity and apathy. We walk away from the problem or difficulty, hoping it won’t be there when we re-turn. We are afraid of what might happen if we deal with each other honestly, directly, and freely. If they won’t do what I say or do or want, where do we go from there? Is the only alternative to give in or force our way?

The Risen Lord speaks a few key messages to His first disciples. The first is "Fear not," and the reason He gives for relinquishing fear is "It is I." A relationship with the Lord Jesus overcomes fear. We are not left on our own to figure out the unknown and the dilemmas it creates. We have the wisdom, the care, and the strength that come from faith, and the support and shared insight that come from the community of disciples to which we belong. We are not alone, but we live bound to God through the mark of baptism and bound to all the baptized through the Spirit that was poured out on us. The Lord Jesus is the hub of the wheel, and attached to Him we are connected to all oth-ers who claim to be His disciples. What’s there to fear with such a united force?

That is why the second message of the Risen Lord is "Peace." We know we are free from fear when we speak and act with a sense of confidence and resolve that is not easily shaken or stubbornly stuck in one way -- my way! That is the case because our confidence is not solely in ourselves. We trust that the power of God is available to us who seek it and that this power is effective through us. This creates a certain detachment from our efforts. We don’t need to control every as-pect of everything in life. We don’t need to be successful all the time. We don’t need to do it only our way. We just need to serve. God’s power is a force for service, and if people are being served with the respect due fellow disciples, then we can relax about how it is done, who does it, or what the final outcome may look like. We work and live in peace.

Poor Baxter doesn’t have the benefit of baptism in the risen life of Christ. He has to make it on his instincts alone. No wonder he is so easily frightened. No need for us to be scaredy cats though. We share discipleship in a community of the baptized. We are not alone. Peace.

Easter Meows: The Leap

Baxter is a senior cat now. At eleven, he has sown his wide oats and is contented with the simple pleasures of cat life — food, sleep, sunshine and a good scratch. I do not know if Baxter has joined AARC (American Association of Retired Cats), but he definitely lives the retired life style. Still, there is one thing from his youthful prime that Baxter continues to practice with poise and aplomb. He still jumps! He still has the old stuff when it comes to leaping with grace and surprise onto a window sill, a table, the bed, even the roof of my car. He springs into place seemingly effortlessly. He glides through the air and lands where he wants, perfectly in balance. How does he do it?

I read that a cat’s skeletal structure isn’t made like ours. In layman’s terms, they are more loosely connected bone to bone so that they can “spring” from a set position and stretch to a new one without looking contorted or squashed. Their bodies have a lot of “give” to them, and that makes their movements look effortless. Even the old boy, Baxter, hasn’t lost this cat magic.

Nor has God. God is older than all of us. In fact, we gave up trying to count God’s age. It’s impossible, so we say instead that God is eternal, without beginning or end. Yet, like cats, God stays spry in His ability to leap and keep His balance in our lives. That is what He showed us in Christ’s resurrection. Death could not hold God down when Jesus was laid in the tomb. He leaped to new and transformed life, and established a new way of balancing the injustices and unfairness of life through the grace of His Holy Spirit. Love evens the scales. Love springs into action when all else seems lost. Love never grows old, and never dies. As Saint Augustine describes God, He is “Love, ever ancient, ever new.” It’s that Love that saves us through the Easter mysteries of death becoming the springboard to new life.

So don’t give up just because you’re older or feeling older through the weight of life’s burdens of sin and heartache. It is never too late to learn how to leap like a cat, when we let our graceful God land in our hearts and change our way of living. We may aim for places we didn’t think we could reach, and balance ourselves on a crossbeam there that we feared would not support us. But no one expected Jesus to rise from the dead after the cross of Calvary killed Him. Faith is a leap into the mystery of life from death, a leap into the arms of a loving God. So let’s not hold onto ourselves too tightly, or we will land hard and off balance when life moves us. Learn from the Creator of cats. We can still jump at any age, if we allow God to keep us loose and balanced through the power of the Risen Lord.

Easter Meows: The Look

You can’t stare a cat down. I have tried it with Baxter, and I never win. He usually gets me to laugh by doing something that distracts me even while he’s holding my gaze. Looking into a cat’s eyes is like looking into the abyss. What is going on behind that mysterious stare? Are myriad ideas running through his head about his owner, the weather, food, other cats, the next prank, or is the stare a blank, disguising a vacuous gray matter void of any thoughts? Cat’s eyes are a mystery. They attract us with their colors and their penetrating gaze. The dilating and shrinking of their pupils intrigues us. They appear at different times in different moods—mournful, happy, eager, bored, pensive, and caring. It’s all in the soft, feline eyes, and the eyes are the window of the soul. We are fascinated by their look because we hope to get a glimpse of what makes them tick.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to look into God’s eyes? What would we see there? Certainly, more mystery than we could ever imagine, and more love than we could ever hope to acknowledge and embrace. But where do we find the eye of God? Easter points the way.

The empty tomb of Christ’s resurrection is the opening to God’s soul. It is the eye we look into to discover who God is for us. Like the eyes of a physical creature, it is a sign of the interior life, a clue to what may be going on inside the mind and heart of its subject. The empty tomb offers no definitive explanation of Christ’s victory over sin and death, but it draws us into this event by raising questions and calming our fears of the darkness we associate with such things. It declares that something happened here unprecedented in human history yet beyond the confines of that history. The eternal God reached into the realm of death and brought forth life that will never die again. He reached into the place where the consequences of human sin left a dead body and healed the effects of sin by raising that body to new life. And the best news of all is that this miracle is not just for the Jesus who was crucified, but through Him, it is for everyone who dies with Christ in baptism. God is the Lord of the living and the dead. God’s Lordship is generous, gracious and loving for us all. Unlike the power of the proud and arrogant, the victory of the Risen Lord is humbly shared with those who share His life. The empty tomb empties the tombs of all who believe in Christ’s power to save. Life is promised for all because one man died for the many.

This is, indeed, a mystery, more perplexing than any bizarre Baxter stare or human look at the unknown. It is the look of Love itself Who created the world and saved it from its own selfishness and limitations. It sees what we can’t see now. It promises what is beyond our ability to grasp. It is communion with God through the portal of what appears most separated and isolated from human contact with another, death. It is Resurrected Life. Nothing can explain it. Nothing can destroy it. But Christian believers throughout the world celebrate it this Easter day as the true heart of God shared with the broken hearts of humanity, making them whole. Alleluia!

Baxter and I wish all our readers a “Happy Easter!”

Lenten Scratches: Fresh Air

Baxter loved the warm days we had a few weeks ago. I would open the windows wide, and he would sit on the sill all excited about the sounds of the birds and the warmth and brightness of the sun. He perked up at any movement he spied from his self-designated observation tower. He was full of life because he surrounded himself with all sorts of living creatures. They made him curious, and he wanted to investigate every sight and sound he encountered. He jumped from window to window, taking it all in and smelling the sweet freshness of nature coming to life again.

What gets us excited about living? Do we think we are too old and settled to expect anything new and different to spark our imaginations? Are the responsibilities we hold each day weighing down our spirits and stifling our creativity? Can God get to us with a call to live life anew in His Spirit? We need to examine our lives in view of where we have positioned the windows. Are they shut all the time? Are the blinds closed to the light? Do we even look out through them to see a bigger world beyond our confines?

Lent is window washing time for us. Take the dust away from our vision, and let the fresh air inside. Now look at what God is doing in our world. Despite the wars and violence in our streets there are signs of compassion when the hungry are fed, the naked clothed and the homeless sheltered. Despite the greed and selfishness of some business and political activities, there are those who want to work together, who are generous in their dealings, and who treat their employees and customers with respect and fairness. Despite the frustrations with cold bureaucracies and insider deals, every system has people who believe that serving others is the first and most important thing we do each day. Look for these heroes in our midst. Thank them for being different, and follow their example. They are the breath of fresh air and warm light that signal the end of the world’s winter and the growth of new life.

We can so easily get discouraged these days by all that we see and hear around us, however, the reasons for hope are there too. Perhaps not where we are accustomed to look, but look again. There are open minds and hearts that seek to serve others and make a better world for us all. For us who believe, these witnesses of hope are signs of the Spirit released by the Risen Lord. As we approach Easter, breathe in that Spirit. Feel its warmth; see its hints of new life; and praise God for His presence and power in our midst. Become a witness and agent of God’s Spirit wherever you live and work, and so bring some freshness to the life you share with others.

Baxter sits on the sill of an open window to take in the freshness of new life. We sit at the entrance of an empty tomb to see things differently. Baxter’s viewpoint passes with the seasons, but ours is meant to last into eternity. Don’t miss the opportunity for some fresh air and new life this Easter.