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Have Cats Will Travel
My dad told me stories about some memorable vacations when he was a kid. For starters, he was one of five children. Every year, they would load up the vehicle, head out to various destinations in the western United States, and bring their pets. Five kids, several pets, all their belongings for a few weeks – that’s my dad’s vacation experience.
In contrast to that, I was talking with Laurel and Jeff Vaughn about their vacation plans. They, like my dad, take road trips with their pets; but, unlike the Marshall experience, theirs is more of a relaxing and contemplative travel time.
Laurel and Jeff have two beautiful cats – Ben and Jerry. I first met the two brothers at a cat blessing when they were kittens. As you can see from the photos, they have grown into magnificent longhaired cats. A couple of years ago, Laurel and Jeff bought a Sprinter travel van. Instead of boarding Ben and Jerry, they decided to take them along. Since then, the cats have quickly taken to travel. They love to lounge around the van when it is traveling; sometimes on the dashboard or side window where passing travelers get to relish in seeing beautiful cats on a road trip.
When they stay at a camp ground, Ben and Jerry join them outside on the picnic table or they will find a patch of sundrenched ground to nap on. Other travelers often comment on how beautiful the cats are and what a delight it is to see them out camping. Some people even stop to take selfies (and one person actually took a photo while driving!). What a blessing it is for others to see Ben and Jerry. When they do arrive at their destination, Laurel has photos of Ben and Jerry lounging around at various homes of their friends where they stay on their trips. They have become quite the traveling quartet.
When I saw them (the quartet) in July, Ben and Jerry had that traveling jones in their eyes. Their tails twitched just ever so slightly to indicate it was time for another road trip. Coming soon, the cats will get their wish when their Sprinter van heads off to California. More days of lounging around on the dashboard, seeing the beautiful countryside roll by, having the full attention of Laurel and Jeff, staying in camp grounds or at the houses of friends, and amazing people along the way. From what Jeff has told me, the first fifteen minutes of the trip – leaving Longboat and heading onto the mainland – is the roughest part for Ben and Jerry. I imagine that once they pass the veterinarian’s office, the cats settle in for the enjoyment of it all.
I think Jesus was a cat person. He liked it when independent thinking people took a liking to him and followed him along the way. Jesus also talked about the importance of rest and contemplation; something Ben and Jerry do naturally. For all of the trips Jesus took that are recorded in the Gospel, it never seemed that the destination was the focus; it was rather the traveling that Jesus found important. Next time you read the Gospel accounts of his life, look at all the things that happened “on the road”. Here are just a few: Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well, healed a hemorrhaging woman and two blind men, brought a young man back to life, lepers were cleansed, five thousand people were fed; even the Sermon on the Mount was a stop on a long road trip. Again, it wasn’t so much the destination for Jesus. The focus for him was the people he met along the way.
I don’t imagine Ben and Jerry are too caught up in where Jeff’s GPS is taking them. Instead, they are in for the travel. Perhaps our prayer lives could be better served if we prayed the way the Ben and Jerry travel – not worrying about the destination so much but rather blessing those along the way.
- Rev. Dave
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