So as most know, I am a cat person. Actually I am an animal person . . . but where I currently live, I can only have a cat. . . Hence my current stories often involve my cat.
I adore my current cat, his name is Jojo. I didn't name him, the shelter where he lived for 3 years had named him. He is my purr-fect companion. He is a unique cat, affectionately called "not-so-bright" because ...we... he really is not so bright. There are countless stories I could share about his not so bright moments but that is not the purr-pose of today's blog.
He is super affectionate. Overly affectionate. He has a tendency to run towards your car when you arrive and flop down, belly up for a some love. Being not so bright, that sometimes means he flops down behind your car whilst you are reversing. He also comes running if you call him, just like a dog would.
If I am home, he is my shadow. There is no place that I can go that he wont follow. He is manipulatively affectionate too. I always know when he wants something because then he turns on the charm full blast. He will persistently purr and rub against you and follow you and paw at you and demand attention when he wants something. And that something could be anything from fresh food in his bowl [even though you fed him fresh food 5 minutes before. . . it is now no longer fresh and he demands new food. . . ironically in the day when i am at work he eats the stale food.]. It could mean fresh water. or it could mean, "Go back to bed so that I can lie on your lap." its a process of elimination till you discover what he is affectionately demanding.
But then there are the moments when he is full of delights and purrs not to get his own way but simply because he adores his human. These are the best moments ever. It does wonders for my heart when he is curled up, fast asleep on the bed or couch next to me and the minute he hears my voice, he starts to purr in his sleep. Or if I am napping and he jumps up on the bed and the minute he finds me, he instantly starts purring in acknowledgement as if to say, "Yay! I found my human that I adore."
These are my purr-fect moments, the ones that warm and melt my heart because its moments like these where I am loved by my fur-baby for no reason whatsoever except because he loves me.
It's something in my own life, that is shifting this year. I realise how often my relationship with God has undertones of expectation [not necessarily faith based] that is a hidden motive/incentive to my time with him or service/worship to him. Not intentionally, and not the loud blaring motive. And sometimes it is from a genuine need, just like my cat's need for food. . . but its still there. I long for the moments, like when I first became Christian where I was so in awe of God and so besotted with Him that it didn't matter if He did something in response or didnt do anything because it was enough to know Him and be with Him
One of the words for worship is "proskuneo" and it means...
to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand), to fawn or crouch to, homage (do reverence to, adore): worship."
A reverend, intimate love. A bit like a dog's unconditional, non-manipulative love or the rare impromptu purr-fect moment when a cat appreciate's its owner. A love that is not self-seeking, but lavish. Let's spend time this week, in true worship and rediscover not just God's love for us, but our love for Him
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