Every day there’s at least one really juicy opportunity to clear the cobwebs and dust bunnies of the past that block the flow of Love in the present moment and I’m interested in clearing away ALL of them so that I can live from the clear view rather than the conditioned view.

If you’re a regular reader of my Daily Shot of Spiritual Espresso then you know that my fur babies, Bodhi and Sattva give me a daily opportunity to release attachments and be more loving.  This weekend has provided the usual number of these opportunities.

Friday night, Bodhi was barking at something in the field and woods around our home.  We’ve got acres around us where we have regular visits from bears (not now, they’re hibernating), fox, deer, coyotes, bobcats and many more.  Bodhi can catch a scent of any of those and she starts barking to defend and protect.

Sattva had gone out before Bodhi started barking and come back in.  He’d been out a lot that day so I didn’t think he’d go back out again, but when I brought Bodhi in, Sattva went back out.  After about a half an hour I called to get him to come in.  I tried a couple of times, and finally I saw him over at the neighbors and making his way to me, but then he stopped and went where I couldn’t see him, which was strange.

I was thinking that Bodhi may have been barking at something that would be a predator to Sattva and so he turned back to the neighbors house to hide there.  I waited a few minutes at the door to try to get him to come in, but then decided to try again in 15 minutes, but then I got distracted.

About 30 minutes later I got a call from my neighbor, “Is Sattva in the house?”  I said, no he was out.  She said, “I just heard a blood curdling scream from a cat that was awful and right outside.”

Now, my little boy, Sattva, he loves, loves, LOVES to sit outside their house and admire their cats in the window, all day, all night, he loves it.  He is there every day.  There’s a little post in front of their picture window and he sits atop it all the time, gazing at their kitties.  

In fact, when the weather warms, they’re planning to build him a perch so he can be more comfortable, that’s how much time he spends over there.

Well, of course when I heard what my neighbor, Carol said about the scream, I said, “I’ll get on my boots and come right over.”

I got my winter gear on, including my head lamp (which I have in order to walk Bodhi at night because there are no street lights here in the country).  

Carol, her husband, Tim, and I were out with head lamps and flashlights looking for any sign of Sattva.  And here’s where I’m finally getting to my spiritual lesson.

I was watching my mind.  I was concerned, but not frightened.  I noticed my mind was preparing me to possibly see Sattva dead or severely injured.  I thought it was highly likely he was a goner.  People tell me stories of how their cats were attacked on a regular basis, but I just cannot keep Sattva prisoner.  He would HATE that.

We had about 6 inches of snow on the ground, so I was looking for fresh tracks of some kind of bigger animal like a bobcat.  He could outrun other animals and get up a tree, but not another, bigger cat.  

I felt myself preparing to accept he might be gone for good.  
What would I do?
If he was gone, would I get another kitten?
What if he didn’t come home all night?
Would I stay up waiting for him to come home?
Would I keep looking for him through the cold, dark night?

I observed the mind, the questions, the bracing for the worst, the images that were flitting through.

Isn’t that what we do?  We prepare for the worst?

I searched all around and then I realized, I should be looking for blood in the snow.  So I made another round all over looking for blood.  All three of us were out there looking and searching.  There was nothing.  No sign at all.

I thought it might be entirely possible that a bobcat could have gotten Sattva and taken off with him in their mouth without spilling any blood at all.  

Then, as if she knew my thoughts, Carol said she’d seen a neighbor’s cat out a few days before.  I thought, “maybe the two house cats had a run in.”  

Or maybe a bobcat got the neighbor’s cat.  

We were all calling for Sattva but he wasn’t showing up.  I thought even if there was a predator, he would show himself to us.  Nothing.  

I was even looking in the trees.  Last spring he ended up 25’ up a tree in the pouring rain after having been out all night.  

I had a strong feeling to go home and that he would show up soon.

I came home and went right for my phone to post a prayer request in our Power of Love Ministry WhatsApp chat.  As I was writing it, Bodhi, who was inside and could feel my concern, rang the bell that lets me know she wants to go out.  I really didn’t want to let her out in this circumstance.  Not with a possible predator out there.

I said, “just a minute, Bodhi!”  I wished to get my prayer request posted first before dealing with Bodhi.  

She rang the bell again.  
I finished my post, and went to let her out.  

It turned out that Bodhi was ringing the bell to let me know Sattva was home, safe and sound.

I wasn’t surprised, but I was relieved and let my neighbors know immediately.

Sattva sleeps beside me as I write this.  I have no real idea what happened out there on Friday night.  No idea whose scream my neighbors heard.  

It’s interesting to me that if the situation had been something very different, my intellect would have handled it differently.  Here’s an example – in the summer of 2020 I was living in a different rental house, one that I intended to buy in the coming year.  I got news that someone had made an offer and it had been accepted.  I was disappointed.  I made plans to move.  

Now, 2 weeks before I had to move out, I still didn’t know where I was moving to.  I wasn’t stressed or worried.  I wasn’t imagining any scenarios I didn’t wish to experience.  I was only knowing that I’d be living in a place that I loved and it would appear with perfect timing.  And it did.  That’s where I live now.

But in this experience with Sattva, my mind went to all kinds of scenarios I didn’t want. 

Even though I didn’t dwell on them, they came up.  
I did start to feel a little teary at one point, thinking that I’d never see my precious little boy again, but I turned my attention elsewhere.

A friend once said to me that one of the best things I’d ever said to her when she was worried and going on and on about what she was worried about, was “don’t prepare for a future situation you don’t want.”

And that’s how I usually live my life.
It was easy when it came to the house.  I didn’t have much emotional attachment to the house even though I really, REALLY did wish to buy it and live there.

I have an emotional attachment with Sattva.  I love him.  I’d like to spend many years in his company.  

And so my mind went into the preemptive prep for the worst case scenario.  

I’m glad I’m so practiced at watching my mind that I can can change the channel now and not obsess.  I’m grateful that I can realize my mind has wondered and I can call it back even in very challenging situations.

I don’t feel badly that I had those thoughts.
I can let it be neutral.
I can be grateful that I didn’t feel upset and worried, but stayed in the more comfortable zone of “concerned.”

Let’s not prepare for a future we don’t want and mentally imagine ourselves in it.  It’s stressful and not loving to ourselves. 

We can become expert at changing the channel and going the other way, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Life is blessing us always.  

As it says in A Course in Miracles, it takes great learning to realize that everything is helpful.  I’m grateful to my mighty companions, Bodhi and Sattva, who help me to recognize the healing opportunities to release the pain patterns!

I’m offering my End My Self-Sabotage Challenge later this month.  If you’re a secret smoker, if you isolate and self-medicate with food or alcohol.  If you have any way that you’re aware that you keep sabotaging yourself, please consider joining in this beautiful program with a group of like-minded souls who are remembering to laugh and truly healing these pain patterns.  Together, we can get it done!

TODAY Sundays With Spirit is today!  This is our weekly Sunday inspirational service – you’re invited!  All you have to do is register and we’ll send you the link to join us.  It’s completely free and fun!  

NEW PODCAST EPISODE:  The latest episode of my podcast’s topic is Activating Unity Awareness. We can fast track ourselves to remembering the truth that is the key to our awakened mind. Everything in ACIM leads us to this awakening and we can step up the process by focusing on certain teachings.