Sasha is getting brave

Sasha, who went to her new home yesterday, finally came out.  Either she's getting brave or getting hungry.  I don't have any details, but I am so happy to see this photo of her.  After finally feeling at home with Donna and all settled in for four months or so, she now has to get used to another home and different people.  It must be really hard for an elderly cat, and they think she's about 12 years old.

End of the year ~ a time to meditate

Clever idea for the new year (but starting TODAY).  In one of my clergy groups, someone lamented:  "Never tell the pastor anything important on Sunday!"  There are too many people and too many distractions to remember it all, even in small congregations.  If it's important (like a prayer request, hospitalization, upcoming event, need for a visit), give the pastor a written note.  Another pastor responded with a card she had made up (illustration above).  This is a great idea!  I told her:

"Thank you!  I'm retired now, but I typed up a slightly revised version of this and printed out a dozen to give it a try.  Living in a senior retirement center and making plans with lots of friends to get together or to do something for someone means I occasionally forget to jot it on my calendar.  I'll try this out today, as a matter of fact.  Looking forward to it."

What else do I plan for the coming year?

Barbara's cat Mindy

• I'll write in my new Becoming journal.
• I intend to do more with my music, like regularly practicing the piano and teaching Gail to play.
• I'll miss the friends who died this year:  Evelyn, Barbara, and Sandy
• I'll also miss their cats:  Mindy (Barbara's cat, who moved to Vermont), Sasha (Sandy's cat, who moved out of Donna's apartment this afternoon), and Patches (Evelyn's cat, who has never appeared on my blog before).
• I'll exercise with our little group of friends on Friday afternoons, as we've been doing since April.
• I'll continue to clear out the books in my apartment, keeping only the ones I'm likely to read or re-read in this lifetime.

One way I'll do this "book removal" project is by climbing Mt. TBR, the challenge to read the TBR (to-be-read) books already on my shelves.  My goal is to read at least 48 of them before the end of the year.

Now I need to finish these library books and get them out of my way, right?  Right.

Cat pendant

Here's the Egyptian cat goddess Bast posed before a carving of the Rosetta stone, the one that allowed people to decode hieroglyphs.  On this last Fursday of the year, I want to tell you what I gave Donna for Christmas ... and why.  She's been taking care of Sasha for four months or so, while Sandy was in the hospital and then after Sandy died.  In a few days, Sasha will be moving in with another lady, but we don't know her.  So I thought Donna should have this little medallion with a cat on it.  I wrote this note for Donna.

Sasha 12-1-19

Sasha and I want you to have this special pendant so you will always remember her after she has to move away from you next week.  We smart cats remember when we were worshiped as deities in ancient Egypt, like my ancestor Bast on this piece of jewelry.  I want to pass it on to a worthy person, since somebody "fixed" me and I can never have a kitten to continue my line.  Sasha and I both love you because you’re a real cat person.  That's a compliment, you know, coming from two cats.

And I signed it, "Love always" because Sasha and I will both love Donna for always and forever.

Clawdia  >^..^<  'til next time

Oh, wait! I just noticed that "medallion" is really MEDAL LION without the space.  Yes!  I gave Donna a little lion medal.  (Also a metal lion.)

Advent meditation

Sasha on Donna's bed

Low: An Honest Advent Devotional ~ by John Pavlovitz, 2019, theology

God comes to meet us in the low places of our lives, Pavlovitz says.  When we plant our feet firmly in the dirt of everyday life, we see Jesus meeting us in our low places.  The invitation of Jesus, he says, is not to escape this world "to an elevated heavenly sanctuary somewhere; it is to bring heaven down" (p. 5).  Jesus gets low, meeting us on the ground where we are.

Today is the second day of Advent.  Yesterday, I started this book that Donna gave me four months ago.  She and I met the author last year when he talked about an earlier book, so we expect this one to be thought-provoking, and it is.  Today, the book really got to me.

Week 1 ~ Monday

"All our relationships can be understood as intersections:  the places our road meets that of another person and both stories are rewritten, sometimes wonderfully and sometimes less so. ... Today, dwell on the people who've crossed your circuitous path and changed your story. ... Sit with gratitude for them and for the difference they've made on your journey" (pp. 8, 9).

You may wonder why I've shown you a pensive cat to illustrate my thoughts.  Donna has been keeping Sasha while Sandy Richter was in the hospital and rehab and back in the hospital for close to three months.  I was at Donna's Sunday morning when she got a call that Sandy had died around 3:00 a.m.  Somehow, Sasha seemed to know and had been acting strange all morning, Donna said.  In this photo, Sasha reflects how I was also feeling ... sad, bereft ... but also grateful that I got to know Sandy.

Sandy Richter (1940-2019)

Sandy crossed my path here at the Crown Center, where we ate at the same table.  This photo was taken in the Café last year.  I reflected on how Sandy impacted my life, and my thinking branched out to other friends who have died this year:  Evelyn in July, Barbara in October, and now Sandy seven weeks later.  An ambulance wailed out of our parking lot yesterday, taking another very sick friend to the hospital.  Here's Sandy's version of the Litany of Remembrance that I wrote for Barbara.

Litany of Remembrance

When I see a funny cat picture on Facebook and want to share it,
I'll remember you.
When I recall you saying, "We only grow taller until we're perfect,"
I'll remember you.
When the elevator door opens on your floor at the Crown Center,
I'll remember you.
When the friends at "our" table sit around talking after dinner,
we'll remember you.
Because you've been so much part of our lives at the Crown Center,
we'll remember you.
So long as we live, you too shall live, for you are now a part of us,
as we remember you.

It's been a sad year, with lots of us feeling low.  I guess I really need this time of meditating on the pages of Low: An Honest Advent Devotional.