Well. We’ve had a week, haven’t we? And as a result it is easy to become a slave to the news media; it is for me, anyway. I want to take a moment to admire those who are not, and who show us that a life can be perfectly full and rich without it.
I was too busy, as a working parent with three children, to even think about adopting a pet. When we became the last resort for a pair of cats while their owner was away, I learned what I had been missing. The cat we got soon after taught me volumes in his profound, practical, peaceful way. So this is dedicated to him, recently passed, and to my niece’s new little jet-black sage with the light green eyes:
Fragments from “Jubilate Agno”
by Christopher Smart
For I will consider my cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the living God, duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East, he worships in his way.
For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
...For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
...For God has bless’d him in the variety of his movements.
...For I am possessed of a cat, surpassing in beauty,
From whom I take occasion to bless Almighty God.
--The Rev. Barbara Talcott
Spread the word!
Do you know someone in the St. Mark’s community who would enjoy these reflections?
