Steve-os Devos: Celebrating the Presence

For those of us who pay attention to the rhythm of the "Church," a rhythm which moves differently from the daily calendar we generally follow, this coming week marks a couple of important things.

First, this coming Sunday marks World Communion Sunday. This is a day that followers of Jesus can be called to remember that though we may all think about the presence of God in many different ways, we all celebrate at the same table. The idea that Christians can have differences of opinion about scriptural interpretation or specific religious practices is a stumbling block that those who desire a closer relationship with Christ have to overcome. The confusion that can happen if you are still seeking a faith community can be pretty intense from one church to another. When you talk to people who have become a part of a faith community, they often say that they decided one day to show up and that this just turned out to "feel right." This happens time and again to those new to the Christian walk, as well as those who may have left the Church and returned later in life.

But coming together to remember the unity we share in Jesus is what makes World Communion Sunday a vital part of the year. The more all the different adjectives of faith come together, the closer we are to understanding and celebrating the richness of Christ's message and God's grace.

And this leads me to the second thing you might see happening around town this week under the guise of "Blessings of the Animals." This celebration marks the ministry of St. Francis who discovered the importance of God's presence in the natural world and who was himself ministered to by animals. So we give thanks on these days for these creatures who occupy our homes, yards, and wild lands. Leading me to share a story that I think brings these two special foci's together in my own odd way.

I have two cats. One of them is 7 years older than the other. When I first brought the youngest one, Tigrah, home, my older cat, Mittens, was not happy. My thought that they could play together and keep each other company was obviously something that either of them had in mind as my older cat, set in her schedule and ritual life, was not willing to allow.

In my bedroom, I had placed one of those cardboard cat scratchers, the kind that is filled with catnip. Now, Mittens had discovered the overwhelming power and fascination of catnip and the need to partake of a good claw sharpening and roll around over this little box on a regular basis. Tigrah, on the other hand, being a kitten, had never really seen such a thing. She had been content to play with the fake little mice, often flinging them onto the bed in the middle of the night and expecting me to interact with her as she pounced about the bed.

So it was with some curiosity as she watched Mittens each day go over to this box and perform her ritual. The two had worked out the proper distance of toleration after a few days and weeks. Yet they each had there separate spaces and places somehow silently agreed to between them. One day, Tigrah, noticing that she was alone in the bedroom, decided to check out this curious box. She crept up slowly to it, her nose sniffing carefully to see if it was dangerous. As was to be expected, the catnip soon took on its effect and she began to rub her neck against the box and soon was perched on it not sure how to use it for scratching.

Out of nowhere pounced Mittens. Hissing along her path, she ran over to the scratching box and stopped abruptly. Tigrah, unsure just where this fit was leading waited patiently. Mittens, seeing her posturing had failed to impress, struck out with her paw, not using her claws, but just enough to encourage Tigrah to leave, which she did. Of course, soon neither cat really used the scratching box at all.

It was all a bit humorous, but it struck me as the perfect example sometimes about how each of us reacts when something we find precious is discovered by a stranger. Sometimes we can find a place where our own naive curiosity is embraced, where our new way of exploring and discovering the world is encouraged, or where we can come share in the delight that others have found. But sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of, well, sour pusses. Places where the rituals have become stale, or so formulaic as to lose their power to those who come regularly.

This is why we we focus on World Communion Sunday, a time for us to remember the mystery and excitement, the anticipation of being part of a practice as old as the faith itself, and which transforms and is transformed for each new Christian. And it's also perhaps why we look at St. Francis, a person who discovered God's grace and presence in an unexpected place.

I hope you have a chance to experience God's grace this week in unexpected ways and places and I pray that By the Way can be the sort of community that allows you to scratch below the surface to a deeper understanding of God's love for you. Amen!