Amazing!

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 

a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. --1 Peter 2:9

Recently my cat Maizie and I celebrated our fifth "anniversary." It was on my birthday five years ago that she showed up on the porch. She was so skinny, we could count her ribs. Her coat was in need of a brushing. She was so tiny, so emaciated we thought she was probably about six, maybe eight months old.

From the first, we agreed: We needed a third cat like we needed a hole in the head.

But she kept coming back, rubbing on our legs as we sat and talked, adding her two cents' worth to the conversation.And she was so skinny! 

So we compromised. 

We started offering her dry cat food. (And at some level, I think we both knew it was only a matter of time before we made her our own.)

Sure enough, after a few days, the kitty-to-be-named-later had definitely decided she had found a new home. She was a lean, clean purring machine who had stolen our hearts. 

But I had a problem. I had lost an outdoor kitty when I was younger, and swore that when we had cats-- they were indoors. Period.

So I took KTBNL to visit the vet, to be sure she was disease-free before bringing her into our nest. She seemed soooo grateful just to have someone paying attention to her! And she was soooo small, so emaciated. 

Even more than we realized. It turned out, by the vet's best guess, going by the teeth, how healed her spay scar was, she was probably three, maybe even four years old. Amazing! 

Amazing she had survived so well, since she was obviously once someone's pet. And amazing Maizie joined the fold. 

How many times over the years have we said, "How on earth did she survive, all by herself, for so long?" No wonder she was so relieved, really, to join a family who would take care of her. She had known what it meant to be hungry, really hungry, and alone.

* * * * *

And so have we. We have done our darnedest, it seems, to survive on our own. We have tried all manner of things, but somehow, it just isn't right.

We just are not designed to be alone.

Even the Creator desired company-- and created an entire "scene," more than just our world, populated it with so many wonderful creatures-- and us.

Loved us so much, we wanted for nothing. But we thought we had a better way. 

I wonder how often God looks at me, like I look at Maizie, and wonders how I have managed to scrap along on my own, wonders why it took me so long to seek out my community. 

Prideful bunch, we are. Think we have it all figured out. 

Today, it's been rainy, now drizzly and windy. And my mind wanders to those in need, those who could sure use a meal or a dry pair of shoes, a kind word or a loving smile. The human "Maizies" in the world. 

Those in need of a little marvelous Light.

Will it be you?

* * * * *

Lord God, you did not shine your light in our hearts just for us to keep. Help us to be your bright, perfect love, to one another, to the "least of these" in human and animal form. May we always remember: we love because you first loved us enough to provide everything we need. Amen