Meet Welcome, a silent partner in our lives for many months. Welcome is a feral cat who wandered in. Since he's been here, the mice no longer run amok in the outbuildings. The rats and possums, moles and voles are thinned out, too.
Although we call him Welcome, he has cringed away from us, refusing any contact closer than 20 yards.
There is progress. He no longer panics and madly runs away. Now, he people watches. Mowing the grass, working in the shop, hanging the laundry; Welcome observes from afar.
Sometimes, late at night, he sits right outside the kitchen door. Barely blinking, he stares up at the windows in the house. Watching for many minutes; blinking, sitting curious, his head cocked to one side. What might he be thinking; remembering?
Today, we celebrate. Welcome offers us his best gift. He shows a bit of trust. He crouches to eat in front of the barn, while we sit outside the house on the front steps! He only looks over his shoulder now and then, to be sure we stay put.
We remember Psalm 84:3
"Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God." Psalm 84:3 - KJV
As we continue to watch Welcome eat in front of the barn, we are reminded of poet Wendell Berry's "A Poem About Hope and Place", included in his book Leavings. Here are the final two stanzas of Berry's lovely poem: . . .
"Found your hope, then, on the ground under your feet Your hope of Heaven, let it rest on the ground Underfoot. Be it lighted by the light that falls Freely upon it after the darkness of the nights And the darkness of our ignorance and madness. Let it be lighted also by the light that is within you, Which is the light of imagination. By it you see The likeness of people in other places to yourself In your place. It lights invariably the need for care Toward other people, other creatures, in other places As you would ask them for care toward your place and you.
No place at last is better than the world. The world Is no better than its places. Its places at last Are no better than their people while their people Continue in them. When the people make Dark the light within them, the world darkens." Wendell Berry
Through his tentative trust, Welcome shares a bit of the light he carries within. He belongs. His shy self brightens the light in this place for us.
Welcome to your place, Welcome.
*Leavings: Poems: Wendell Berry, Counterpoint; Edition Unstated (April 1, 2011)
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