Introduction

Surely, one of the most delicious of life's simple pleasures is to come into sudden awareness of the purring of a cat, especially if it be a small gray tabby with spots of orange mixed in for genetic good luck. Puderd is rarely more than five feet away from me when I'm at home. Often in the darkness of night I will hear her purring erupt from the mound of bedding we both inhabit for about a third of each day. An inner smile reminds me of what matters most in life - the small gentle things.

During the four years Puderd and I have shared the same house I have seen five family members die and many dear friends take their last breath and there have been a number of divorces among those friends who didn't die. A number of others have been lost to me because of relational failure. Life can be a pretty gritty experience. It can also be a soft gentle experience filled with hope and happiness. Puderd has been a great teacher in this respect.

I have often said that the Lord was having a good day when he invented cats. They prove especially good companions and can't help but invoke a laugh with their antics. For reasons that will remain unknown mysteries to me, Puderd emerges from her feline comatose state every night about 11:30 PM and goes into a truly impressive kinetic mode. I am entranced at how involved and animated a cat can become with a rubber band I have previously taken off a stalk of broccoli. It intrigues me how well an eight-pound animal can simulate the thunder of a herd of horses in full gallop, batting this band throughout the house. I never cease to be amazed at how much pleasure this silly cat gets from my elastic bit of vegetarian refuse. Cats have learned how to derive the greatest pleasure from almost nothing.

Puderd reminds me that humans can also have similar experiences, if they want them. One of the great joys of travelling for me has been to see just how fully and richly the poorest of people can live in many parts of the world. In America we seek riches in materialism while other parts of the world have yet to be duped by the consumer myth and still find great contentment and fulfillment in good friends, family, and conversation in the plaza at evening's last light.

In the Old Testament, God used Balaam's donkey to speak to him and protect him from certain grave difficulty. I think that here in the Atomic Age God has used a small cat to speak to me many times. I don't hear a voice like Balaam did but the messages are just as loud. In a complex age fraught with distractions and dangers, we are in need of reminders of those times when we are about to stray into the abyss.

In matters of spiritual life, the noise and incessant chatter of the world can drown out any experience of God. Centuries ago the Israelites were admonished to "be still and know that I am God." This message is even more imperative in our nano-second culture. When we lose sight of God and His voice is lost in the white noise of consumerism, we place ourselves at great risk of experiencing a spiritual declension in our lives.

What I hear Puderd telling me is that spiritual life is found in simplicity and knowledge of God is found in quietness. Contentment is found in good friends, not good products. Trust and safety are really beyond our control and we can only have these if we Trust in the One who is in control. "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" reminds me that we all have to trust someone higher for everything in our lives. The American concept of rugged individualism and self-sufficiency is nothing but a myth. It is estimated that the food we eat requires the effort of at least ten thousand different people to get it to our kitchen.

Perhaps the most powerful lesson I have learned from Puderd has to deal with hope. In "Offering" I learned that circumstances which appear to be absolutely hopeless can, in fact, turn around in miraculous fashion. I have found this to be true for myself facing terminal illness and small birds have also found this to be true when caught in the jaws of a deadly scenario with a cat. We are told in scriptures that a sparrow does not fall to the ground unnoticed.

In our warp-nine culture we move faster that the speed of light and often do so impulsively. What looked like a good idea with at least two milliseconds of forethought proves to be a disastrous thing in our lives. Countless doomed marriages, abused children, and financial failures result from impulsive decisions made without seeking wise counsel or the mind of God. In "Garages" Puderd has shown on a feline scale how impetuously running into something can produce a bad outcome. I have been there to bail Puderd out. God can be there to bail us out but he might expect more of us than we do of cats. After all, we were created in His image.

In our competitive high-performance culture, time pressures cause us to start our days on bad footing. We never quite catch up with the demands of the day and this puts us in a highly stressed state. Cats are refractory to this nonsense and immune to time demands. In "Wake Up, America!" Puderd provides a far better strategy for beginning a healthy enjoyable day. And certainly other people will enjoy us more, especially those that have to share the road with us on their morning commutes.

In a world where more families fall apart than stay together, animals can be a source of unconditional love and pleasure. The insanity of the world can be for a season be forgotten in the six-part resonation of a six-pack of kittens. "Sanity" reveals how Rebecca deals with the failure of her family. Puderd has certainly been a source of sanity for me.

Many of us have had some severe struggles with relational failures and abusive circumstances. Puderd came from an abusive upbringing and it took years for her to embrace the possibility of life without a tormentor. Many of us still struggle with the idea that we might experience life without a tormentor. The Gospel message tells us that we can have a well-reasoned Hope for a life free of angst. Puderd reminds me that it is always better to trust than to fear.

Contrary to what the ancient Egyptians believed, there is nothing to suggest that cats will enjoy an afterlife. There is much to suggest that we will experience an afterlife. I can protect Puderd from the feral monsters that occasionally come around our house to pick on small tabbies. Puderd serves as a reminder that there are monsters of a different kind that can jeopardize our spiritual lives, if we don't pay attention to what is going on around us. We can embrace the protection of the One who has known us since before the foundations of time.

Sometimes the greatest wisdom comes from teachers wearing fur coats. May you find Puderd's reminders heartening encouragement for you on your journey through life.