A new cat has come! When I went to the barn to get the horses’ grain, I found a large grey tabby on the seat of the tractor. “Well, hello there.” The cat answered, “Meow.” I was delighted. For several minutes, we carried on quite the conversation in which he did rolls and twists of his entire body, as a cat does for emphasis. As he gave indication he was not too certain about petting, I did not try; there are manners in regard to new cats. But I was pleased and told him so. “I think you may stay, if you are pleasant.” On returning to the barn later that afternoon, I found the grey tabby and our big Bubba both atop the hay. Comrades! The grey tabby jumped from the hay, but I petted Bubba thoroughly, and, seeing, up came the grey tabby, pushing forward for petting, too.

We have not had a stray cat come for a very long time, years. We used to have them so often that we bewailed: “No more!” And then little by little the old ones died off and some just disappeared. No more came to take their place. For the past year there has been only our loyal shop-cat, Bubba, and our aging companion lap-cat, Fancy. Any time I mentioned getting a new cat, Jim would frown, say, “We don’t need a bunch of cats,” and point out all the reasons why. So I repressed the desire and told myself that I should not want anymore cats, that cats were the last thing we needed around here. I wanted to be traveling. I had lots to do. Until a few weeks ago, when we came home from visiting our new grandson and I was very sad and missing him. Before I knew it, I said to Jim, “Can we get a kitten?” And Jim, bless his heart, so anxious to comfort me, said, “Yeah…I may know where there’s one that needs a home.”

Suddenly I see. In that moment of honestly expressing my desire, the door opened.

What is it that you desire today? The true desires in our hearts are good and right and lead us to where we need to go. We don’t have to surpress them, belittle them. Stop judging the desire. Simply look at it, acknowledge it, and open the door.

Dear God, today I will take time to look honestly at the true desires of my heart. With this honesty, I will learn who and what I am.  Amen.