On Sunday, after I’d put away Thanksgiving decorations, we decided to begin setting out a few Christmas pieces to ready our home for the holiday. Every day, I’ve pulled out a new box and selected a few decorations to place in a window or on a mantel, noticing the stories all around me: stories behind every decoration and every piece of furniture where they’re placed…I cannot separate myself from these stories; my own accrue and add new layers to the objects until finally, everything shines with story.

Due to our new cat, Fergus, and his continued period of adjustment to our home, and us, and the 4-leggeds, we’ve decided that maybe a Christmas tree encrusted with all of our glass ornaments wouldn’t be such a great idea this year. In past years, the cats have enjoyed playing and resting on the quilt beneath the tree; this year, I’m afraid that feline power struggles might bring it all crashing down. Better to lower the odds, I think. There are plenty of ways to make the home festive without a tree, but we’ll miss it.

Fergus and the dogs are doing fine with their introductions; the other four cats (oh, God, I’ve become the Crazy Cat Lady) are struggling a bit more with the refinement of pecking order and ego assuagement. We have every reason to believe all will be well, but these relationships, these stories, will need to progress according to their own timing, and I think we owe our 4-leggeds all the time they need. Fergus is as placid as Buddha sitting in his kennel, despite the sniffs, spits, and indifference form his new siblings. He forbears.
When he’s alone with me in my office, he loves to sit beneath the computer screen and watch the birds through the picture window. He runs to the door when he hears the other cats; he yearns for community, it seems. He loves fearlessly.
Today, his siblings entered his private room and began to sniff and acquaint themselves with Eau de Fergus. Murphy and Mulligan were especially intrigued, meticulously conducting their version of a CSI, and covering every square inch of the room before accepting a treat.

Tonight, we’ll supervise a first face-to-face visit and see how it goes. We’re hopeful that by the time the New Year rolls around, we’ll have a larger, peaceful, and happy family. Fergus appears to be a force of love; he audaciously chose me on the trail one very cold, wet day and followed me home, and has never stopped exuding that charming trust and desire to connect. All creation, it seems, can reveal the Love of our Source. We often overlook, I think, the myriad ways those with whom we share the planet can teach us about love and loving.
I read that Pope Benedict XVI (“Buzz-Kill Ratzinger”) has written a new book in which he states there were no animals or angels present at the birth of Jesus, nor was that birth date calculated correctly. While I understand his point is to de-mythologize Jesus and place his life within a more historically exact context by removing the inaccurate embellishments that surround our handed-down version of Jesus’ birth, I also believe that for many people, the animals, shepherds, and angels are intrinsic to the story, especially for the young and young-at-heart. For Christians, this was a life like no other, a life that serves as a template, worthy of celebration, as all lives are, but one that was recognized as such from the start.
So rarely do we see the ways Love in-breaks and enters our world, causing unnoticed eruptions of hope and joy all around us. But once, more than two thousand years ago, some of us were actually paying attention. The story that celebrates the birth of one of us who got it right needs no updating or fact-checking; it was never about the angels or animals, but they pin it down in our imaginations and allow us to vicariously enter the birth and so the life, and so the dance of pure goodness modeled for us, however clumsily we misstep.
And when I do falter in my dance, I have always found animals whose love can lead me back to the path quicker than any sermon. Humans like Jesus are rare indeed; animals who love as selflessly as Jesus are not.
I believe we should be very cautious about re-writing well-known and beloved stories, and even Pope Benedict, a Vatican correspondent said, agrees that the traditions surrounding Christmas play a role in nurturing our grasp of the deeper truths the story reveals.
Our own stories, the ones we write with our lives, reveal their deeper truths, too, if we listen. This Christmas, we won’t have a tree, lit and splendid; instead, we’ll celebrate two stories: the birth of Jesus (which is the story of Love’s possibilities being born every day, always, in our hearts), and our story, too, about a tiny abandoned cat named Fergus, who loved everyone he met, and his new family, who had to learn more about loving so fearlessly.
It’s going to be a good story, I can tell: the echoes of other stories and the spirits of those we’ve loved will shine all around it…There will be many animals as featured characters in this new story, and I’m quite certain that on Christmas Eve, when we gather together for treats where the tree would have been, we’ll hear angels singing.
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A beautiful and positive post, Catherine, and I believe that your inclusion of Fergus in your family, is just as positive and symbolic as the Christmas tree, and will remind everyone of the tremendous power of love, that can even bridge the gap between humans and animals. I understand that there are many different ways to appreciate religious truths… and we can’t forget that some people enjoy pitting religion against science… seeing science as ‘exact’, and the true revelation of truth regarding every little detail about the universe around us. But we also know that sometimes the parable can tell us the truth in a way that is just as important as knowing facts… and can’t be measured in centimeters and kilograms. I am sure that there are a lot of people all over the world that appreciate, just as you do, the traditional scene of the birth of Jesus. My best wishes for a very beautiful holiday.
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Oh, you’re so wise, Shimon! Yes, parables often trump science at getting to the heart of this human experience! Of course, being married and fabulously in love with a science teacher has deepened my love for science, so long as it doesn’t over-reach its usefulness, which I think it often does in our world. Saw it over and over in healthcare, when (many, not all) physicians and technicians were totally indifferent/clueless regarding the human suffering before them… Thank you so much for visiting and sharing your kindness and depth.
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A beautiful post, Catherine. In the truest spirit of the season.
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Oh, thank you, Ogee; you know it can be tricky but so very, very worth it to give our hearts away again and again to these beautiful gifts. 🙂
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Thanks for the update on Fergus….What a sweet heart!!! I just know that all the love in your house will create the perfect balance to everybody accepting everybody. It will be a glorious story to impart over the years to come. How wonderful it would be to have them all get along by Christmas. That would be the ultimate gift. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and all is well. Sending you love and hugs to all the babies…..Blessings….VK
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Blessings backatcha, VK. Yes, we’re hoping for a state of calm by Christmas, but since it’s always Christmas, really, I guess we’ll take it as it flows! 🙂 I so appreciate your positive and supportive energy, VK; what a gift you are! Thank you, and joy to your week.
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Ahhhh, how beautifully you write of Christmas and Fergus. I am so glad that all is going well so far, he is absolutely adorable, I’ve fallen for him already and can’t wait to hear more….I’m so glad he chose you, you are an angel to take in another feline, crazy cat woman or not! Lol
do love your Great Grandfather’s table and it’s lovely that you still have it.
Your tree last year was a work of art but I totally understand why it won’t be up this year, I had the same problem last year and couldn’t put my tree up because the pups were so young, I knew it wouldn’t stand a chance. And, as you say Fergus will be more than enough.
I do agree with you about animals helping us to become better people, I always feel they help me to be more patient, understanding and compassionate whatever mood I’m.
I also think everything happens for a reason and think Fergus was meant to find you.
Lovely, lovely post Catherine….as usual.xxxxx
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Thank you, Snowbird; I think you’re right. Or rather, I feel it down to my heart: he really was quite purposeful in following me home and walking all the way into my heart that day. He so peacefully accepted his three weeks of “de-worming” and adjusting in a rather chilly room off the garage, and is being a very good egg about continued quarantine in his upstairs room…which is pretty posh, but lonely, at times. I love that he sleeps through the night and we enjoy his “squeak,” which is quite unlike any cat’s song I’ve ever heard. 🙂 He did pretty well last night–they all did–so we’ll continue mixing it up at intervals as the week goes on: keep us in your good energy! Thank you so much for your welcome visits and wonderful comments. You are terrific!
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Oh, a kiss for Fergus from me! What a sweet fellow; you are being so thoughtful in the way you are integrating him in your household. I hope he is doing well by now and a part of the “pack.”
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