The traffic on Malang Road usually drove about 60 mph past the pastures, farm fields, and an occasional residence. On a spring day in 2004, two blue-eyed kittens were fortunate to have someone see them and pick them up after they appeared to have been abandoned on the side of the road.
Their rescuers were my grandparents’ neighbors who thought they would keep them since their cat was aging. However, the grumpy old cat wanted nothing to do with them. Soon after, I happened to be visiting Missouri for a long weekend, and we walked over to meet them. Their blue-eyed charm, purrs, and cuddles enchanted me. The adventures of Sherlock and Holmes began a few weeks later when my mom brought them to me in Michigan.
They were lynx point Siamese, which is a Siamese and Tabby mix. Sherlock was long and lean with the more traditional Siamese coloring and just a hint of stripes around his legs. Holmes had stripes on his legs and belly, brown polka dots on his sides, and might have been able to impersonate a raccoon with a little extra eye makeup.
In addition to their characteristic blue eyes, they were talkers. I would come home to chastisement for being gone so long in the form of yowling on the other side of the door. Some weekend mornings when I wouldn’t rush out of bed, Holmes would come in to the side of the bed where I was lying and talk to me, saying something like, “Good morning, aren’t you up yet?” followed by a trill.
It didn’t take long for us to begin having an occasional conversation. Sometimes they would go something like this,
- Me: “How was your day, boys?”
- Boys: “Good. You missed the best part of the day.” Trill
- Me: “What was that?”
- Boys: “The naps, all of them.” Trill in unison.
- Me: “That is unfortunate for me; however, I was working. It means that you continue to have feather toys, fresh litter, food, a warm house for naps, and Berber carpet to destroy.”
- Boys: Resounding trills while enthusiastically rubbing against legs or arms.
After moving to Florida, the frequency of conversations increased. I had always heard a cat’s personality could change when they move, and I wouldn’t say they changed significantly, but I did notice an increase in their vocalizations. They had always scratched at the door to let me know they wanted in or out of the garage, but now they became more verbally demanding. Discussions became reciprocal when they responded to my talk or I to theirs.
We had many happy years together, but they each succumbed to different forms of cancer in their old age. The thing that made their absence poignant was the quiet. In addition, I realized I had the habit of talking to them as I did housework or as I mentally unpacked life.
Sherlock and Holmes were gifts that gave so much and taught me even more. Recently, I realized that those ongoing conversations through the day could be happening more fully in the same way with the Holy Spirit. The boys were very interactive, following me around the house and staying close when I would do static activities, at times almost like dogs. Often on remote-work days, they would sit one on either side of me. In reality, the Holy Spirit is in all the same places as my boys were and more, whether I’ve been aware of it or not.
God's Promises
In Psalm 139 (ESV), possibly one of the most intimate and vulnerable psalms, David is talking and communing with God.
“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you” (v.17-18).
God isn’t just a listener in this prayer; David acknowledges hearing God’s bountiful thoughts as a way of life. He was honest about his most horrible sin and the purest desires of his heart throughout his writing. God responded to the open heart and listening ear that David offered.
My favorite chapter in the book Steps to Christ is about prayer, and it explains how we can live in the intimate relationship David described in Psalm 139, “Unceasing prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life; and from our life, purity and holiness flow back to God.”1
Call to Action
David was a condemned sinner needing the grace and forgiveness of a Savior. And we are no different. Yet, David’s story and words were left to guide us to the joy of unbroken conversation and communion with our Savior, where he found grace, and forgiveness, and love. Take heart, friend, we have this hope too.
Pray for the Holy Spirit and read the entire chapter: Psalm 139:1-24 (ASV)—asking God to speak to you through these verses.
139 O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising;
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue,
But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me,
And the light about me shall be night;
12 Even the darkness hideth not from thee,
But the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou didst form my inward parts:
Thou didst cover me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Wonderful are thy works;
And that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My frame was not hidden from thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance;
And in thy book they were all written,
Even the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
When I awake, I am still with thee.
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God:
Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against thee wickedly,
And thine enemies take thy name in vain.
21 Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee?
And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred:
They are become mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
- Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1892), 97.
