Glenna Heller

This animal has plagued our home since I first moved in.

The animal is a white cat.

The story I write tonight is about a miracle. It’s about a sour situation turned sweet. About a feral cat who had been plaguing our home since I first moved here. The cat had been a killer. Vicious, bloody attacks on our animals and others all around us showed us this was so. Attempts at trapping had never worked. He was too wise. Starving him out failed; he only got meaner, attacks on our animals got more vicious and I grew more unloving, more callous.

The point of my story is a way to attain peace. Peace surrounds our home now, and there is no longer fear among the animals that reside here. My observation of our pets and this one, white, torn and mutilated, covert and mean animal is transformed. A miracle: Yes. Brought about by an experiment in kindness.

I fed him, this beast. I over-fed him. He had his choice, so much so that he actually developed an endearing pickiness, so typical of animals we love. His fighting stopped. He became the sweetheart that he is. All our animals are lying down bathing in the sun, now within 5 feet of each other.

I realized that the reason animals fight is because they – we – consider that the things we need in life are insufficient. Not enough. Not enough land, or food, or sex. Not enough love. Not enough for everyone. So we become clever in developing enemies and proficient in waging attacks in war in order to kill or maim to get.

White Cat (WC) was an experiment in living versus dying. In abundance versus insufficiency. In kindness versus ignorance. In love versus fear. I am here to report to you that it worked.

It works.

I read or heard somewhere something very beautiful: In order to get, your hand must be open. The same is true about giving. Deepak Chopra reminds us that giving and getting are the same energy. Jesus in A Course In Miracles is unambiguous in his statement that "giving and getting are one in truth".

If you are feeling any degree of lack in your life, give the thing you think you lack. Go ahead…do it selfishly. Do it because you think you might get more of what you think you lack. Doesn’t matter. The Universe doesn’t ask your beliefs when it sees your open hand. It just notices that you are open to a dynamic exchange. That dynamic exchange, coupled with intention for a specific outcome, is a sure winner.

© Glenna Heller

April 6, 2000