The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Some time ago, certain someone in my household returned home from a morning walk with an injured cat. Said cat allowed us to claim her, though we all know cats can never be owned. Two years later, she has accomplished something no other cat has achieved at our place; she manages to stay inside most of the time. The fact that she gets by on just three legs is really just a poor excuse on our part. The problem is that we let her get too close to us, including her ability to vocalize expressions we have never heard from a feline before.

This past week we were somewhat at a loss to discover her absence after being outside for a time. A construction crew was present which sent her into hiding. After they left for the day, we assumed she would emerge from her exile. We were wrong. She was a no-show. Setting aside concerns of a resident hawk and occasional great horned owl, we placed our hope in an early morning return, and that she would be hungry and eager to be inside again.

It was not to be, as Tuesday provided little help. We did the obligatory check of outbuildings, vehicles, and closed cupboards. No sign. Tuesday night passed and there was nothing encouraging in regard to the cat, and Wednesday morning offered nothing further. The crew finished their business in early afternoon and we stood beside their pickup chatting. It was then she let us know she was in the engine compartment of the crew’s truck.

She had managed to get into a tight space and could not get out. A quick summary of the math concluded she spent two nights under the hood and some 440 road miles over the course of 48 hours. Dehydrated and grateful beyond meow, she was little worse for wear, an outcome proven beyond doubt when she offered her usual wakeup call at 5:30 the next morning. We had given up after two days to the point of remarking there was zero chance she would return. “It looks like there will be no miracle rescue this time,” was a specific comment offered up.

Since then, we have discussed fate, coincidence, and the role of spiritual certainty in the course of everyday life. When does disbelief in an outcome become miraculous happenstance? We can state it was miraculous that the cat survived, believing that still to be the case, but we had already predetermined an opposite outcome in our own minds. That pushed the reading of the miracle meter up a few notches.

The miraculous is present every day if we choose to see it. It is identified in the book of John, not as miracles but as signs of God’s very presence in unlikely places. Miracles are found in the kindnesses offered to children and the elderly, in sublime snapshot moments at the start and end of each day, in gentle words of response to the anger of another.

They are the moments that bring purpose and value to each day and to the relationships that share our confines as co-habitants of this earth. It is beyond our ability at times to comprehend, yet there is a role for us to play… to be open to the possibility of something grander than ourselves. Is that possible in these times of unrest? One can hope for a miracle. It might even involve a cat.