The Gray Cat and Her Space: An Allegory (or maybe a Parable)

The gray cat loved her space. This space under the living room table. The floor length white tablecloth hid her from everyone, giving her a sense of security. This was her happy place. This was where she was most comfortable.

She spent as much time there as she could. Sometimes she would be enticed to go out – when her owner or when nature called – but as soon as she could, she would scamper back under the table. She didn’t like it outside her space. It was too big and cold and things kept changing out there. Not like this small, warm, dark, consistent place she had made her own.

One day she heard a new sound. Not like the sounds made by the people who lived there. This was a very quiet sound. Almost like a whisper. Like whispery soft footsteps moving about the room. Curious, the gray cat peeked out from under the edge of the tablecloth. She couldn’t believe her eyes – there was another cat in the room! A black and white cat who seemed to see everything as he wandered around.

The gray cat ducked back under the tablecloth. Did he see her? Hopefully not. Maybe he wouldn’t think to look under the tablecloth. Maybe he’ll just continue on through the room and out the other door. Who was he anyway? Did her owner get another cat? Heaven forbid! The last thing she wanted to do was share her space.

The tablecloth moved, then the edge lifted and his soft black eyes looked in. She closed IMG_20180518_205030007her eyes and pretended not to be there. Maybe he won’t see her in the dim light. But he did and came all the way in. How dare he? This was her place, made just the way she wanted it. And here he was threatening to change it! No way could she allow this!

She attacked. There was a wild scuffling for a few minutes. She fought with everything she had until he had had enough and ran off. She watched him go, smirking and satisfied with herself. This was her place, and no one, not even him, was going to change it.

 

Have you figured out the meaning behind the story?

If you want to try figuring it out by yourself, stop reading here.

 

Still reading?

Good! Here’s the meaning I had in mind.

the gray cat is us, Christians

the table and tablecloth is our set of beliefs and values that we’ve formed and are comfortable with

the living room is life

the black and white cat is God’s truth

God’s truth will seek us out no matter where we are in life. But we don’t always welcome God’s truth when it arrives. We often chase it away from our comfortable place so we can continue living life the way we want it and so we don’t have to change. We will even fight to keep from changing.

 

So… what do you think?  I would love to hear what you got from the story. Do you have another interpretation?

Make my day by leaving a comment below. 🙂

A Warning to Cat Owners

A Startling Discovery… Cats Can Read and Write!

Confiscated Letters from Our Rescue Cats

A collaboration, by Linda Schnepel and  BibleBloggerGirl 

 

The following are a collection of letters that we were shocked to recently discover . Seems our cats have more in common than just being rescue cats . They can read and write! I shudder to think how many times Cassi sat on my lap as I wrote in my journal, probably reading every word. But I have to credit her with one thing… she can keep a secret! It was just by accident that I stumbled onto these letters. I’m posting them here as a warning to all cat owners. Be careful what you write, whether by hand on by keyboard – your cat just might be reading it!

 

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Dear Miss Potter,                                                                I just read BibleBloggerGirl’s post about you and was moved to write to you concerning her attitude. She sure didn’t seem to appreciate your gifts very much, did she? And after all that work to spit them up at just the right times! I hope you thought of a way to change that!                                                                                                                   With much sympathy,                                               Cassi

 

 

Dear Cassi,
So nice to hear from you! I read about you in Linda’s post. Thank you for reading my girl’s posts. I know she appreciates it. I do try with my gifts for her, and she seems to be warming up to them! Do you ever give your Linda gifts that she doesn’t enjoy? Write soon! I think I’ll go find someone to feed me.
With purrs and rubs,
Miss Potter

 

Dear Miss Potter,                                                                                                                                             No, because I never give gifts. I AM a gift so why should I give them? They already have me!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Indignantly,                                                                                                                                             Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
I didn’t think of it like that! I’m a gift too, and at least they appreciate me, if not my gifts! Who are the people you own?
Curiously,
Miss P.

 

Dear Miss Potter,                                                                                                                                               I own mostly a little girl who thinks I’m her best friend. But there’s also a smaller boy I try to stay away from, and two grown people. They’re a lot to manage but I get it done. Who do you own?                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Proudly,                                                                                                                                                     Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
I mostly own that girl I was telling you about, the one who didn’t like my presents. I sit on her lap and sleep on her bed and follow her around. Never outside, though! I don’t go out there anymore. Do you?
The other people I own are a little boy I don’t like, an older boy that I tolerate, a woman who loves me devotedly, and a man who really doesn’t like me. I think if it weren’t for the girl, the man might start a mutiny against me. They are hard to handle sometimes, but I always put them in their place if they start acting out.
Lovingly,
Miss P.

 

Dear Miss. Potter,                                                                                                                                               Outside? Not since I was a kitten. At first my people wouldn’t let me in the house. They said it was for my safety, but I don’t know. I think I could have taken on that dog. In any case, they made a bed for me in the garage and left the garage door open a little so I could get in and out. As if that was as good enough. I wanted IN and I wasn’t afraid to show it! You would think climbing their screens and staring at them through the windows would clue them in!  I even chased the neighborhood dogs to show I could handle that puny one in the house. Eventually they let me in. And I never left. No way was I going to give them the chance to change their minds. I wanted to be with my girl as much as she wanted to be with  me.                                                                                                           So, your people can be hard to handle, too. Go figure.  People! Keeping them in their place sure is an ongoing struggle sometimes. Let me know if that man tries to start anything. I’ll come over and show him a thing or two.                                                                                                                                                           All my support,                                                                                                                                        Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
Yes, I agree completely – humans are so clueless sometimes! And they can’t seem to make up their minds. When I first moved in, they kept me in the mudroom where all the shoes and coats are put – how undignified. They wouldn’t let me in the house at all! Then, they got these dogs (I don’t know why, as they should have been perfectly content with me) and brought me inside. After that, they wouldn’t let me out! Eventually, I saw that being inside made it much easier to keep the humans in order, so I remained there.
Do your humans ever leave you alone? Mine do that sometimes. They will put my food, water, bed, and litter box all in my girl’s room and shut the door… Then they don’t return for days! I have no laps to sit on, no one to talk to, no one to sleep on, and no one to pet me. I get lonely and sad, and when they do come back I am even happy to see the annoying little one.
Bye for now,
Miss P.

 

Dear Miss Potter,                                                                                                                                                I know it can feel bad to be left alone… even for just a few hours. Days must feel like an eternity!  Hey, this is might be stretching it a bit. All right, quite a bit. But I was just wondering if that’s how humans feel when they think God has left them. WE know better – God is always here. But THEY aren’t so wise. Actually, they can be quite dumb sometimes. Acting all lonely and sad just because they can’t see Him every moment of every day. Sometimes they act so spoiled. But I can’t really fault them too much. After all, I kind of like having my girl around 24/7 myself.  I just know that when she does leave for hours, she will be back. And that belief gives me so much peace that I fall asleep for a good part of the day. But when she’s gone longer than I anticipate and  I find myself starting to feel bad, I make myself jump up and find ways to keep busy. I especially enjoy batting those dazzling dust specks that sparkle in the sunlight – I never can resist anything that sparkles – and knocking everything off the shelves is quite fun too. I like to watch things fall and listen to what sound they make as they hit the floor. Some of those things sure get broken up, though.                                                                                                               That reminds me…  I was pretty broken up when my people found me.  I wonder who pushed me off a shelf. Hmmm… I’ve gotta go sleep on this for awhile.  Write when you get a chance. I always enjoy hearing from you.                                                                                                                                                         Sleepily,                                                                                                                                                      Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
So nice to hear from you! You are so right about the whole humans missing God thing. When they don’t hear his voice or anything right then, they tend to get depressed or even panicky thinking God isn’t there anymore. But they will hear his voice again, they just have to trust that. Just like we trust that our humans love us and will come back.
Ooh, battling dust sounds like fun! I’ve never tried that before. One game I like is chasing crumbs across the floor. Have you played that one? It’s really a good time. Oh Cassi, you made me tired just reading that… I think I’ll go find my girl’s lap and curl up for a bit. Write soon! Always a pleasure reading your letters 😺
Sleepily also,
Miss P.

 

Dear Miss Potter,                                                                                                                                             Yes, I have chased crumbs, and ribbons and spiders and laser lights. I especially love those laser lights! My humans laugh at me for chasing what they call silly things. They love to watch me but they don’t get it. It’s not about the things. It’s about the chase. Just like with God. It’s not about all the books and studies and sermons – those are all fun and all – but it’s about  hearts chasing after God. And I bet He’s not laughing about how silly it looks. He’s laughing because He enjoys watching the chase.                                                                  You know in my last letter that I wondered who pushed me off the shelf? I think I got it figured out. It was … no, probably not. Got to sleep on it a bit longer.                                                                                                                                   Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
Ribbons are fun too! You are absolutely right about the chase – that’s what’s fun 😺
The humans do look silly, knowing what God tells them to do and not always doing it, don’t they? Although, sometimes my humans do know what’s better for me than I do, and I won’t listen to them.
What were you going to say about the one who pushed you off the shelf? I’m curious.
Miss Potter

 

Dear Miss. P,                                                                                    I hesitate to say this because it seems so far-fetched, but I believe it was God who pushed me off that shelf. That seems like such a mean thing to do, and God is not mean. So it’s hard to think He would do such a thing. But then, if I had stayed on that shelf (the place I was born, with my mom and siblings), I would never have been found by my people, and I couldn’t have been my girl’s best friend when she needed me most. So really, it was a good thing I got pushed off the shelf. Even though I did break a little, it was only temporary and probably made my people love me all the more. It reminds me all over again how we only see what’s in front of our noses, while God sees the bigger picture.                                                                                                                                

IMG_20180326_011903589On a different note, have you noticed anything… weird about your girl lately? It seems like my girl is looking at my strangely, like she knows something about me. And she’s starting to minimize her computer screen whenever I jump up on her keyboard. Almost like she doesn’t want me to see what she’s been writing. Hey, do you think it’s possible she has found the letters you’ve written me? That would be horrible! We’re not supposed to let ever them find out we can read and write! Maybe we’d better stop writing to each other!                                                                           With Some Anxiety,                                                              Cassi

 

Dear Cassi,
I think you could be right about God doing that for you. Sometimes his plans don’t show themselves right away, but there definitely was a reason for your family finding you.
You know, you are right! My girl has been doing similar things with me. Maybe we should stop writing to each other, at least for a little while, so they will stop suspecting anything.
With much love (and a little sadness that I won’t hear from you for some time),
Miss Potter

 

 

There you have it – proof cats are way more capable than we could ever imagine!  Anyone else have a similar experience with their cat? What unlikely things have you caught your cats doing? We would love to read them in the comments. And we promise not to let our cats look!

And in case you’re curious, here are links to our posts about our cats.

Just Like… The Kitten in the Woods

Can I Get a Cat?

Miss Potter’s Gifts