The Grace of God in a Kitten

‘Zatara’ means ‘driftwood’ in Spanish, according to The Count of Monte Cristo and sounds pretty fierce, according to the character given the nickname. I told Kendrick that if we ever got a kitten, this is what we would name her. When we found our Zatara – obviously I knew, the instant I laid eyes on her photo on Facebook! – she was called ‘Amorita’, Spanish for ‘little love’ by her foster mom. So her full name, Zatara Amorita, means love drifting towards us and washing up on the shores of our lives. And that is exactly what she has been, a treasure coming in from the sea of God’s love.

Growing up, at friends’ sleepovers I would follow their cats around, seeking a moment of affection and fascinated by their natures so different from the dogs I had known. They would let me pet them briefly before disappearing to wherever it is that cats go, through some time dimensional portal or something. My mother and I are allergic – and my dad emotionally allergic (dad confirm please?) – so it was only ever dogs for us.

The grace of God in a kitten is her fluff and her consistent purr. In our adult ways, insisting on working our fingers to the bone and then having a sad face about it too when we’re home, a kitten is incongruous with her continual playfulness. She pounces and swipes and leaps with a power unexpected in such scrawny legs. Her curiosity turns anything into a toy – pens, 10c coins, hairclips, paper clips – not much is safe from those sweetly padded paws and those eyes that are black saucers of mischievousness. She’s come into our lives when I’ve most needed to meet a kitten: a sponge to soak up and give back uncomplicated and unquestioning affection.

As God loves me in a way I’ll never know because I’m simply less than Him, this creature I’ve bought – with money that she will never understand – and forced to live in a house – in a rental system she’ll never understand – is completely adored by me for her whiskers, black fuzziness and golden eyes – beauty that she hasn’t the notion of.

The grace of God in a kitten is the bond between man and beast, dominion over creation with stewardship that is meaningful and rewarding, even if you are forking out large sums of money for cat scratchers for the sake of the furniture.

Here’s to my first cat, who will be loved and gives love and is to me a perfect animal.