A Little Attention

It all began several months ago with the flashlight.  One of our three inside cats is a "light beam" chaser.  He believes in his heart that if he just tries hard enough, he can catch the beam from the flashlight moving about the floor.

So I humored him a time or two and soon the large pumpkin colored cat started showing up each morning and patiently waiting for his flashlight time.  And he also meows, or sort of, to get me to participate.  He maintains eye contact with me while I make my toast, just hoping that I'll open up the flashlight drawer. 

Showing just that little bit of attention awakened a rather sluggish cat that did not seem to be enjoying much of anything except food and sleep.  He began to blossom and show a lot more personality, and spend more time around us and the other cats too.  He seems happier.

That's when we thought maybe he'd like one of those moving laser light toys that you can sit on a table or on the floor.  The red beam moves about and stops once in a while, the only annoyance being the sound of the motor inside the plastic toy.  Well, Pumpkin really does like it!  Now he waits every morning for us to start the thing which fortunately has a timer on it.  About 15 minutes or so later, after the cat has had his morning exercises, the toy stops.

The two other cats usually show up to watch, probably just for something to do.  They already know that they can't catch light beams.  How do they know?  I suppose they tried it several times and when it didn't work, they quit trying.  Pumpkin on the other hand refuses to accept that fact and the quest continues.  I wonder if they ever communicate with one another, the unbelievers saying something like, "Hey, doofus, don't you get it?  You're never gunna catch that thing."  And then maybe Pumpkin just ignores them, thinking that he's going to show them a thing or two about light beams.

When we have joy in our hearts, we are like Pumpkin.  We always believe that even the most impossible things can happen.  The naysayers are about us telling us different, and our own doubts creep in at times, but we persist.  We wait.  We keep praying.  We never quit. 

If I was transformed into a cat, I'd want to be like Pumpkin.  Some would say maybe he's not the brightest of the bright, but it doesn't matter a hoot to me.  I'd rather have that unflagging hope, that gift from God that keeps fueling me on the road that St. Paul talks about.  The road where we run the race of our lives.  And the light of Christ illuminates the way!!