… no, actually it was the worst of times.
Zoey was at my door and Hunter was at Jenna’s when I got up. I opened the windows onto a clear, beautiful morning and immediately understood. Roofers were on the house across the way.
My cats hate roofers. They are loud and unpredictable.
I let them “go to ground” under my bed and settled in with coffee and newspaper.
Then another problem arose. Tuesday brings the “lawn monsters.” The landscape crew had started their engines.
My cats hate lawn monsters. They are loud, unpredictable, they come right up to the house.
When Jenna got up, both cats made a beeline for her room. That is the safest place on mowing days (and vacuuming days, now that I think of it).
Finally, the last shoe dropped: at 10 AM on the first Tuesday of the month, the tornado siren, a block away, sounds. A triple whammy!
My cats hate the tornado siren. It is very loud, scary near and unpredictable.
Now the cats were firmly glued to Jenna’s bathroom floor. Whenever I peeked in at them, they looked at me reproachfully, as though it were all my fault. Nothing would change their minds. They knew what they knew.
I understood their position. When things go wrong for me I want to place blame, too.
But even the scardiest cats can’t stay awake all day. By early afternoon they were asleep on Jenna’s bed, bunched together, because that was clearly safer.
And by supper, the noises were gone, and with it the fear. Today’s crisis was over – until tomorrow.
**********
Unlike cats, I’m not afraid of roofers, lawn mowers or sirens. But there are lots of things I am afraid of. There are lots of things to be afraid of.
But like cats, I am most afraid when I have no understanding, no certainty, no power.
Like where we all are right now.
Yet I am learning what do to: Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
from the wide open spaces, he answered. (Psalm 118:5 The Message)
And I am reassured: God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;
who would dare lay a hand on me? (Psalm 118:6 The Message)
God is now at my side. No matter the noises around me, I am safe.
And not just on Tuesdays!