Parable of the Prodigal Cat

The other night the new family cat didn't come home. Big deal, huh? It was to me. Every time I woke up in the night realizing the cat was still outside in the dark, exposed to the potential dangers of coyotes and raccoons, cold and cars, I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I got up several times to try to call him home, I heard him scream once or twice in the middle of night as if he had been ensnared by something evil. Finally, I prayed that God would send my cat home. Ridiculous. After all, the cat had chosen to stay away. Even though I am one of those people who will talk to God about any and all things on a constant basis, I thought asking for the cat to come home seemed absurd. Really. And then he came home and I was overjoyed. I can't explain it any differently. Overjoyed.

Last week I lost my favorite earring. I wear them almost every day. On one unidentified day, I decided it would be cool to wear my big hoops and stick my little earring in a partially opened second hole: residue from a line of self-inflicted piercings from my college days. Maybe I was feeling old and thought this would young me up a bit. Who knows? By the end of the day that ear was aching and I took the extra earring out. For the life of me I could not remember where I put it. I looked in every cup, every jewelry box, every tray, every knick- knack holder in the house (for those of you who know my penchant for small receptacles-a Hurculean task). Soon, I was pulling the furniture out from the wall, wrestling with giant dust bunnies, emptying out the garbages, taking apart drains, sifting through the laundry and vent registers. For two days, I obsessed over it, even thinking the cat might have eaten it and that I might have to sift through the kitty litter. Again, a seemingly petty incident but, oh so important to me. I rarely care about material things but these particular earrings were given to me on my fortieth birthday by my husband. Somehow they speak to me about the life we've lived together and the love we've shared, so it would be a little sad to lose that. On Sunday I walked down the stairs on my way to get ready to go to yet another soccer game and there, at the foot of the stairs lay, sparkling, my little tourmaline earring. My heart leapt. I kid you not, it leaped right inside of me with joy.

So what? Right? Why write about my petty triumphs? Well, as I contemplated my good fortune I couldn't help but remember Sunday school parables we've all heard so many times we've barely heard them at all. In one portion of the story of Jesus, the "religious" people were challenging him about his penchant for hanging out with prostitutes, tax collectors and low-lifes. In response he tells a series of three stories:

1. A man has a hundred sheep and one wanders off. The owner of the lost sheep will leave those 99 to go find the one that is lost. When he finds him, he will carry him home on his shoulders and tell his friends "Rejoice with me, for the one I lost has come home."

2. A woman has ten silver coins but loses one. She lights a lamp and sweeps her entire house until she finds the lost coin. She then calls her friends and says, "Rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin."

3. Jesus finishes with the story of the prodigal son. You know the story, the ungrateful kid takes his inheritance, wastes it on wine, women and song and he ends up eating pig slop. The kid comes to his senses and though he has disavowed his father, he figures he can at least go home and get a job at his father's house: better than being a beggar. While the kid is "still a long way off, the father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; threw his arms around him and kissed him." The father throws a party to celebrate the son that was lost and now is found, once was dead and now is alive.

Sometimes my heart grows dry and hard. I forget. Old parables lose their meaning. I don't have sheep, ten silver coins hold no relevant value to me. Into my husk of a heart, a story speaks specifically to me, featuring a young tabby cat and a single tourmaline earring. All at once, my heart is drenched with a downpour of grateful tears and I remember. So, please, rejoice with me because I have found what was lost.