The intimacy that silence brings is the trademark of the best moments with my cat. He is lying across my legs. I stroke him and whisper gently to him, little loving sounds. He knows what they mean. They reassure him. I comb him and he rubs his cheek against my hand. He sniffs my arm and licks it. He looks up at me then rests his head on my lap. These are the best moments for us.
Here is a quote from John O’Donohue a poet and a philosopher:
βOne of the tasks of true friendship is to listen compassionately and creatively to the hidden silences. Often secrets are not revealed in words, they lie concealed in the silence between the words or in the depth of what is unsayable between two people.β (….or a person and a cat! – added by Michael)
Those silent moments, when you feel the warmth and the weight of your cat against you and he feels your reassuring presence are the best moments in the special cat-human relationship.
Sometimes you can simply shut your eyes while he rests against you and soak up the warmth of the moment.
There is a lot of noise and chasing around in our lives. It is good to share some intimate silence together. It pours healing oil over a stressed soul.
This is written with Dee in mind because she was a bit stressed and was tired of reading bad cat news, which I can fully understand. Also it is nice just to write what comes to one’s mind and think of the pleasantness of caring for a cat.
dreamt I had Tiggy with me last night and was talking to her and I didn’t find it disturbing so maybe she is here with me. I do believe in the soul!!
I believe that my grandfather is with The Lord and that I will see him again. Jesus knows how special he was to me and I look forward to what our relationship will be like in the life to come. But when I think about Tippy and all my childhood cats I sometimes doubt that I will actually see them again, because the teaching of the church concerning animals is so negative. I don’t find reason to doubt that animals live on from reading the Bible, so I think the church is wrong.
In my silent moments with Monty I reflect that the same God who made him made me. We are children of the same God– different in some ways, similar in others, but both of us loved. When you think of it that way, instead of obsessing on who has dominion over who or who might be more loved by God and just reflect that we are ALL created by the same God, it seems much more possible that animals also will be part of the world to come.
Sometimes I wish I had been created an animal or even just a wildflower growing at the side of the road instead of a human being. But to be created human is a great thing because we can think, reflect and understand in ways nothing else in creation can. But it is also a burden because humans are flawed and inherit a rebellious spirit.
Poor you Ruth. I feel the upset those dreams can cause. I am OK about Binnie now. I don’t wake up and worry about her anymore.
But like now, late evening when it is quiet and I am alone thinking about her, it makes me feel sad and a bit lost.
I have dreams like that about my grandfather. I dream he is still alive after he had been hospitalized for pneumonia and cardiac problems back in 1994. I dream he survived and he’s about to leave the hospital and we need to decide about 24 hour care or maybe a nursing home. I wake up very worried, pondering what will be best for him, and it takes a long time sometimes to realize that was years ago and he never came home from the hospital. Or I have dreams that he is still alive and I’m talking to him and I never realize it’s a dream and that he’s gone. It’s not like that with anyone else, just him. Pets or people who are gone I always remember that they are gone. If they appear in a dream I know I must be dreaming. Just Grandpa– my brain cannot and will not accept he is gone. Those dreams are not comforting though– just very disturbing.
That’s good. The upset will ease over the years but you’ll never forget her and I don’t think Gabby will either.
Oh yes I see now how to put a photo up on here now silly me wasn’t thinking straight !