Portals
How a cat probably almost for sure saved me from being sucked into a vortex
I’m pretty sure a cat saved me from falling into a portal.
Let me explain.
I was driving home one day a few months ago, and all of a sudden in the middle of the road, a tuxedo cat strolled in front of my car, sat down, and stared at me. I gasped and said “Aw!” because this is the appropriate response when one sees cats, and I expected the sound and sight of my car to encourage it to move to the yard and out of the street before too long.
I was mistaken.
It sat there, staring at me, unblinking, for several more seconds. I rolled down my window and said, in a sing-song voice (also an appropriate response), “hi little cat! you’re so beautiful!”
Stare.
“Can I pass, please?”
……
“Kitty?”
…
“…?”
At this point I was actually getting somewhat convinced that there was a galactic vortex somewhere nearby, and this cat was either trying to lure me toward it, or protect me from it. I chose to believe the latter, so I got my phone out and took pictures of the cute cat (a third very appropriate response), and then we both just sort of… sat there together for a couple minutes.
Soon, the little tuxedo moved slowly out of the road and I completed my drive home.
I’ve gotten quite the range of reactions to this Balaam-adjacent experience, from, “Wow, that’s so special!” to “wow… that’s so… special…”
(If you are unfamiliar, Balaam is a pagan prophet in the book of Numbers in the Bible, and he is on his way to curse the nation of Israel, I can’t remember why, and his donkey sees an angel of God barring the pathway, so the donkey stops in order to prevent Balaam from getting injured/killed/otherwise entangled with a terrifying celestial being. Balaam doesn’t see anything, and therefore it is not real to him, so he beats the donkey for being so stubborn. Repeat three times. The donkey finally starts talking — I swear I am not making this up — and says, basically, “Look dude this is ridiculous I am trying to save your ignorant butt from literal God on High and you are being the stubborn one, okay, be so for real right now.” You can read the rest of the story if you like in Numbers 22. To be clear, the similarities between my story and this one stop with the animal-protecting-the-human bit, far away from the abuse bit, yikes.)
The thing is, I actually don’t doubt that Little Tuxedo was protecting me from something — perhaps that two-minute delay prevented a car accident. Perhaps it simply slowed my heart rate after a stressful day and improved my health on a mitochondrial level. Perhaps there really was a portal. And honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me which of these, if any, were factual. Because the energy was real.
The more of this life that I live, and the more people I meet, the less I doubt that there are things beyond our understanding that absolutely, positively exist, even though I have no explanation for them whatsoever. And I find this happening on a lot of different fronts in my life at the same time — some inspiring, some overwhelming, and yes, some sad and humbling.
The more often I pause for potential portals, pet-related or otherwise, the more evidence I feel of magic sparkling around the edges of this world, and the more cat photos populate my phone.
The longer I live inside this disabled, chronically ill body, the less I believe I will ever get well, and the more complex a mixture of peace and grief I find within that truth.
The longer I live outside of the church, the more I see and hear and feel the Great Spirit’s presence in every part of creation, and the more sure I am that I am no less called now than I was when I was in full-time ministry.
The less I rail against the frustrations of writer’s block, the less trying I do to be Very Much Altogether Inspiring in every piece I write, the more inspiration I seem to find.
The more I see of life, and especially of death, the more convinced I am that there are thin places where eternity is a fraction of an inch away from our current reality.
The longer I am married, the more humbled I am that another human being could continually choose to love me even after they’ve seen me at my worst and lowest points. Same goes for long-term friendships, brothers, and also pets.
The more people I meet from different backgrounds and faiths and experiences, the less I think it matters what people believe and the more I think it matters how we love.
Because unconditional love is, and I am more sure about this than I am about anything else, the most powerful force in the universe.
Hey, thanks for taking time to read my words! I’ll be here as often as my brain and body allow.
Yes!! Cats and squirrels will SAUNTER in front of my car. I take this as a compliment - they know I’ll stop…and, we’ll probably have a conversation! 🤣😉