BACKGROUND<p>There's a bookstore across the street. It isn't a particularly big store, but it's fair sized. I was standing in the Religious/New Age (I know, how can they both be together, huh? There was "Jesus Books" and Wicca stuff, and Bibles and Tarot Cards, all in the same place. Odd, but I digress [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] ). So, as you all know, my life over the last year has been... um... painful, and this day was no exception. I was broke, "window shopping" and I saw this little book buried among the bigger books. It was a lovely-looking little book, with a watercolor rendering (sp?) of a cat on the front. I love cats, so I opened it up... I read the jacket:<p>
"At a time when Don Holt's life was full of difficult problems to worry about and he endured many sleepless nights, he spent several hours each day praying, meditating, and writing in his journal..."<p>Ah yes, I thought, this too is my life...<p>
"As he sat on his sofa writing, his cat, Katie, would join him, leap unto his lap, rub against his pen, and sniff at his face...<p>Yes, how many times my Tess had done the same, chewing the end of my pen while writing. Also, I was reminded of my cats in California -- Friskie and Tabitha, doing the same... walking over my pages, seeming to want me to stop and hear them...<p>
"At first he was annoyed with this interruption of his important spiritual work. But one day she climbed onto his shoulder went to sleep. It struck him that this was precisely the relationship he wished he had with God --that metaphorically he could just lay his head on the Divine Shoulder and get a good night's sleep... He began to observe Katie's other behaviors, wondering if they, too might be sources of spiritual insight.<p>Who wrote this, I wondered... onto the back cover... a Presbyterian pastor.... a struggling Christian... <p>Ah, a man wrote this, who simply wanted to find some truth in his chaos. How much I wanted the same.<p>Problem was, I had no money... it was $20... and I had no money... we are broke right now, barely able to go paycheck to paycheck, as you know, if you've read my ramblings.<p>So, I began to go over once a week and sneek a peek (please don't tell them [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] )... I finally, several weeks later, did have the money.. and I went to the book... and I did something stupid... I read the last two pages. Katie was dead. I cried in the store, put the book down, and left. I said to myself that I wouldn't read it. I can't stand sad endings.<p>Weeks passed. I suffered inside. I spent the $20 on something like milk and bread.... yet, I kept remembering this book. <p>One day, while chatting with a very close MB friend, I mentioned the book, saying that she should read it... I explained what had happened with me, and that was that. Two days later she wrote me, and said she had a gift for me... <tears at the rememberance of that day>... and that Katie was waiting for me to read about her...<p>
Praying with Katie<p>The subtitle of the book is "God, my Cat, and Me" and it is truly an AWESOME book. <p>The chapters read like any spiritual book trying to grasp the important:
Teach Us to Pray
Love
Judgment
Contemplation
Petition
<p>You get the idea. In each chapter, Holt tells us how Katie teaches us to live... how to reach out to God... how to "Be still and know that"... God is God. <p>Allow me to share one quote with you, and it is the only one I will share, because I truly want everyone to BUY this book and cherish it - this quote is taken from the end of the book, after Katie has died:<p>
We allowed Katie to live her life, to go out when she wanted to, even though we knew there were substantial risks from the traffic... There were large lawns in back... and we hoped that Katie would choose the grassland rather than the roadway. Or that, if she chose the road, she would be smart enough and quick enough to protect herself.<p>It didn't work out the way we hoped.<p>Is it that way for You, too Lord? You are aware of the dangers, yet You allow us to live our lives, hoping we will choose safe lawns to play in. Or at least, if we choose to explore dangerous roads, You hope we will be quick and careful in order that we might live." <p>Does this not bring you to tears, as it did to mine???<p>I feel that adding any more to this would tarnish it somehow, so I will leave you to your ponderings...<p>Love, Sheryl<p>[ October 29, 2001: Message edited by: Nyneve ]</p>
