| Sunny Side Up June 18, 2003 � Kathleen Gibson, 2003 Taking our cue from a cat and a kid As a kitten, our giant, mostly-white cat, Moses, took to drinking from the water faucet in the bathroom. He was very specific about how he liked the water delivered. Not fast and hissing. Not dripping either. A steady stream, just past a drip. Moses has a regular water dish now, but every so often he leaps up to the sink, waits till one of us turns the tap on, and laps to his heart's content. It's quite a sight. Once small enough to curl up in the sink, he barely fits on the cabinet now. If the Preacher happens to be the human in the washroom, he sometimes has a perverse tendency to blast on the water full stream just as Moses puts his front paws in the sink. Hugely offended, Moses leaps down. Goes off to lick dry his sopping feet. (Men and felines, I've noticed, have strange relationships. I think cats remind men of women. They torment the felines because at least with a cat they can prove their superiority. Sorry, men. I call it as I see it!) Anyway, Moses notices that I stand rather still in front of the mirror for a time every morning. He meets me there. When he started doing this regularly, I responded the way he's trained me. Turned the tap on to just the right flow for his finicky taste. He paid it no attention. Sat there instead, watching me fluff. Started purring. Can you resist a purring cat? Neither can I. So I petted him, nudged his brow with my nose. (Cats adore that-experts say it reminds them of their mother's licks.) I've come to recognize something. Moses understands that I'm crazy about him! And he loves me right back. He's also smart enough to know that when he's up near the top two and a half feet of so of me, I can't resist him. We snuggle. I reassure him that he's loved and appreciated. Then he puts his front half in the sink and takes a few obligatory sips. Just to show me that he appreciates my offer. Purring all the while. Giant purrs that serenade me as I finish primping. Three year old Shaylee Rae wandered onto the platform one Sunday after church. She came to me as I turned off the keyboard. "Hi Shaylee Rae," I said, "What would you like?" "Um, Um�" "Did you want to play the keyboard?" "No..o..o..o..o," she said, long and musical. "Well, do you want to ask me something?" "I don't think so. N..o..o..o..o..o.." "Well, what then?" She sighed, fixed me with saucer-wide brown eyes. "I just� I just�." "Yes?" I coaxed. "I just�.. LIKE YOU!" That tickled me. I wonder if God dreams about his children acting like my Moses and Shaylee Rae? Imagine it�. "What would you like, child?" "Umm�.." "Can I heal something? "No, thanks." "Send money? Fix a problem?" "I don't think so. Maybe tomorrow." "Well, what then?" "I just�.I just�LOVE YOU!" God, tickled. Imagine that. You can respond to these words at [email protected] |
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