Blessed the tree who stretches its roots to the stream

Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

Jer 17:7-8

Marvel the wonders of new technology. Susie and Deliah’s circulating water fountain has proved a huge hit. No more changing water everyday. No more worrying about their not getting their fill. Like a mini-water treatment plant in our kitchen, Susie and Deliah can access clean, filtered and fresh water whenever they like.

I rarely consider modern innovation or technology miraculous. Or, for that matter, a gift from God. It is here. It is accessible. And I can pretty much learn how to use most of it. Providing Susie and Deliah fresh water is the least of it.

Kamal Krishnan of New Delhi doesn’t think it so ordinary. She’d marvel at my two cats’ ultra modern “watering hole”. Ms. Krishnan and the rest of the New Delhi community scavenges for fresh water daily. “Warning of “an unparalleled water crisis,” the [New Delhi Human Development Report] study released in August found that 25 percent of New Delhi households had no access to piped water, and that 27 percent got water for less than three hours a day.” Corporate greed, overdevelopment, human consumption, and population growth have all contributed to the Yamuna River’s demise and New Delhi’s thirst. Once the life spring of New Delhi, it is now its life threat—carrying disease, pollution, contaminated wildlife and not enough potable water to sustain its population.

It is easy to take certain comforts for granted—water, shelter, food. I expect government and society to secure these minimum benefits, but now that I reflect on it, how easily I forget that I need to stay on my watch, too.

New Delhi is the richest city in India today but can only deliver water to a handful of its residents for 3 to 4 hours a day. This situation didn’t occur overnight. In a nation that prides itself on being one of the largest democratic nations in the world, there had been little attention paid to the Yamuna as New Delhi’s economy soared and its factories and industries dumped sewage and other pollutants into its very life source.

Climate change, global warming and environment are not just buzz words. Witness India. We look to her in envy when we see her become one the fastest growing global economies. Yet we fail to recognize some disastrous failures that will eventually cause great damage to her future. The world seems to want what it wants when it wants it—NOW. It has forgotten about tomorrow. Or what it will leave behind.

I know that Susie and Deliah enjoy that water fountain. I never thought about it recycling the water it uses. I only thought about my indulging my cats. Therein lies our sin—not thinking.

India stands on the threshold of “an era of water scarcity.” It never meant to go there. People were merely thoughtless—not thinking the earth miraculous. Most inhabitants here share the same flaw.

Maybe, that’s why some of us have cats. To remind us that even the smallest parts of God’s creation have wondrous effects—sometimes even miraculous ones.

By The Grace of God I Am

But by the grace of God I am what I am

1 Cor 15:8

A weekend morning. Sleeping late. Striped sunbeams streaming in the window and if an artist’s brush captures this moment, Susie, Deliah and I slumber peacefully. We are undisturbed by alarm clocks or traffic or phones. It is a gloriously serene and quiet Sunday.

I have not always appreciated this silence—the empty spaces of times allotted for rest and reflection. Life was meant to busy oneself in. Now, life is different.

Susie’s and Deliah’s entry into my life provided me pause. Cats by their own design possess the wisdom to spend a great deal of time resting in order to have a great deal of time living.

Susie and Deliah descend from an ancestry revered by Egyptian Pharaohs who believed that cats had already experienced the rebirth that they, too, were about to embark on. Like many cat owners, the Pharaohs recognized what great companions cats would be in this journey. Likewise, the Egyptians bestowed upon one of their goddesses, Bastnet, the features of a cat, and believed she brought many blessings upon a household. An inscription on a pyramid in Thebes recognizes the respect and esteem that cats held in Egyptian society:

Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed…the Great Cat.

Each of us carries a little magic or a little wisdom or a little miracle in our pockets. Sometimes, we carry it quite unawares. I doubt that Susie or Deliah know how greatly they have influenced my life. Delivering God’s blessings through being exactly who we are is the blessing.