Apparently my post last week about my cat Buddy hit some of you very deeply. Thank you for your kind responses. Of course I have another cat named Bell.  Well…maybe that’s not quite correct she’s not really our cat. She belonged to the neighbors behind us but she always came by to visit Buddy. We knew she was there by the sound of the little instrument around her neck. We didn’t know her name so we just called her “Bell.”

Bell experienced something none of us should have to in our lives. Her owners were tragically killed. Now I don’t know what happened but when the people and relatives came to empty the house and move they didn’t take Bell. Unfortunately I have a feeling they did it on purpose and just abandoned this little spirit.

Of course Bell is a survivor and I believe, on purpose, she announced this to the world by somehow getting that ringing thing off her neck. Then, this was about seven years ago, she showed up sitting at our back door, without the bell, waiting for us to welcome her to a home she had somehow come to trust. Now Bell is very independent. She doesn’t really like coming inside. Of course I get that not really the home she remembers. Plus she often gives me this look of where has Buddy gone? Where have my people gone?

This Advent season take a moment to pause and lift up all those hurting, the lonely, the sad all the survivors. There are so many it almost feels overwhelming at times. Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities wrote, “To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: ‘You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself'”

Bless someone on the path today with your presence. You don’t have to say or do anything just be there.

God Bless you all!