Hello,
Amongst the menagerie that lives with us atop our hill are two outside
cats. My wife acquired them a
couple of years ago from one of her client’s whose home was in need of getting
rid of a couple of kittens. Miss
Nicklebee and Attaboy, their names.
Sharing our home site together, I have gotten to know them, and they
have gotten to know me, and in this growing mutual understanding, I have come
to see that their relationship with me much mirrors my relationship with God.
Miss Nicklebee is the slighter of the two cats, her coat a brown
camouflage. Life has treated her a
bit roughly (my wife pried her from the jaws of our dog), and she has become a
bit skittish around me. She often
hides in recessed corners of the woodshed that is their home, keeping herself
just beyond my reach, but close enough to sniff my hand when I raise it near
her. When she ventures out of her
fortress, she often makes her way close to me as if she wants to be picked up
or petted, but as soon as I bend over, she darts off, outside my reach. She is hard to catch.
But when I do catch her and gather her up in my arms, she melts. Her skittishness transforms into
complete confidence and trust. She
delights in being held belly-up and having her tummy scratched. She purrs and hums in perfect peace….all’s
well.
When it comes to my relationship with God, I, like Miss Nicklebee can be
a bit skittish. I, too, find
myself sheltering in what seems like safe refuges of my own discerning, close
enough for God to reach out to me, but distant enough for me to cautiously
sniff and smell and avoid God’s grasp.
And when I venture out from the shelters of my making, I, too, mimic
Miss Nicklebee’s “teasing” of God, venturing close, but darting away when God
stoops down to gather me up. I,
too, can be pretty hard to catch.
And when God catches me….and God always does….I find myself doing just
what Miss Nicklebee does in my grasp: spontaneously purring, gracefully
resting, full of trust in the one holding me that I am glad to recline in a
worldly venerable position. That’s
what happens to me when God catches me at the communion table and feeds me
extravagantly with his tangible grace.
That is what happens to me when I get caught up in worship and
song. That is what happens to me
when God’s promises overwhelm my fears when God catches hold of me in
prayer. In God’s gracious
embrace….I melt.
Given the wonder of what happens to Miss Nicklebee when she is in my
arms, you would think she would learn not to skittishly avoid my grasp. I don’t know why she continues in
skittish fear.
Given the wonder of what happens to me when I am in God’s embrace, you
would think that I would, likewise, learn to not to skittishly avoid God’s
grasp. Why do I continue in
skittish fear? Why? God, melt my heart so it will no longer
be so.
Next week….Attaboy.
Have a great week!
God’s grace and peace (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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