Miracles News

October-December, 2016

The Prince of Love

by Cindy Lyn Bartholome

Cindy Bartholome I was experiencing the Pathways of Light meditation titled, “Letting Love Return You to Peace.” I was deep into the meditation, not even hearing the guiding words, when half way through the meditation my cat, Prince, jumped on the chair and laid his body right next to my leg. He was there the rest of the meditation. I knew Spirit was telling me something by having Prince lay next to me during this specific meditation. What was the message? By exploring who Prince is I’d have an answer to this question.

Prince is a big cat, about 14 pounds, with long black fluffy hair. While sleeping at night in my bed, Prince would be cuddled next to me with one paw around me and his head on my pillow. This simple gesture has always given me a sense of the love Prince has for others. Prince allowed my grandkids to crawl all over him when they were babies. At Easter time last year Prince brought two baby bunnies alive and unharmed into my house. Prince has always been a lover and could never understand why cats fight.

Almost eight years ago Prince was attacked by a feral cat in the hay fields next to our house. Prince never fought back. The feral cat kept attacking Prince but Prince kept trying to get away. Prince finally got away from this vicious cat after my husband threw a rock at the cat and chased it away.

I trapped the feral cat about a month after Prince’s incident with it. My intention was to catch the feral cat, get it immunized, and release it in a hay field far away so it couldn’t hurt my cats anymore. This wild cat was starving, had dull eyes, his fur was coarse and he was extra fearful. He was the most aggressive, mean cat I’ve ever known; he would even attack me, a human, ten times his size. While I was standing he would hiss and bite and scratch at my legs. If I had to handle him or get close to him I used welding gloves and wore long pants. I named him Taz, short for Tasmanian Devil. When it came time to release Taz, far away from our house, neither my husband nor I could do it. It went against some sort of belief we had about how an animal should be treated.

Taz ended up living in a dog run which we set up in our garage. We figured Taz would live the rest of his life in this dog run. He couldn’t be trusted around our three cats and three dogs. Our cats would go in the garage to eat or use the litter box and Taz would hiss and snarl at them from his dog run clear on the other side of the garage. For everyone’s safety, including Taz’s, the dog run was the best place for Taz to live.

In the evening I’d open the double garage door, sit by the dog run and talk to Taz as I watched the sun set. Prince would on his own, lay out by the dog run with me. First Prince made sure my body was between his and the dog run where Taz was sitting. Eventually Prince started lying closer and closer to the dog run till eventually he was close enough that Taz could reach his paw through the dog run and touch some of Prince’s long black hair.

In time Prince was able to go in the garage with me as I let Taz out of the dog run for a little bit of enclosed garage play time while I gave him fresh food and water. Prince was the only one of our cats I’d dare allow in the garage as Taz ran around free. Taz would follow me around the garage knowing I was fetching food for him while Prince would calmly sit next to his own dish of food. Every once in awhile Taz would slowly walk over to Prince, sniff at him then quickly run away. Prince would sit calmly as he allowed Taz to “check him out.” There was no hissing or growling; only a calm self assuredness displayed by Prince which Taz seemed to understand and respect.

As Taz showed he could handle more responsibility we would let him come out of his dog run to hang out in the house with the rest of us for small stretches of time. Taz would hide under the bed or behind the furniture. If the front door opened and we weren’t paying attention Taz would run outside and hide in the sagebrush or under the porch. Prince would always be close by setting an example on how to be a calm, loving house cat.

Last year was the first year Taz was domesticated enough to be out of his dog run all day long, every day, with complete freedom. At night Taz slept in the dog run so we could all feel safe while sleeping and at dinner time Taz ate his food in the dog run because Prince was diabetic and he needed to eat an exact amount of food before his insulin shot. During the day Taz would play outside for a little bit on his own then he’d look for Prince to see what Prince was up to. Wherever Prince was, Taz would be about two feet away. Taz was still a bit skittish and unpredictable (especially with other cats) but Prince stayed calm and let Taz hang out with him. Because of Prince, Taz learned how to relax in the house and just stretch out on the floor in the middle of the room…no hiding, no cowering, no hissing, no fighting, just relaxing all spread out in the middle of the floor.

Prince died a year ago, 4th of July weekend. The dog run is outside, accumulating weeds and no longer used by Taz. I know Taz misses Prince, the only cat he could call his friend these past eight years. Seeing Taz able to relax without hiding reminds me of Prince and how his calm, loving presence is what helped Taz to go from a fearful feral cat to a loving affectionate house cat. Taz insists on cuddling against my husband’s chest while sleeping in our bed at night and the name Taz is now short for Taz-a-roo.

What message was being given to me as Prince nestled against my leg during this meditation? Love! That one simple gesture conveyed to me what Love is: Love is beyond form, it doesn’t need bodies; when the body leaves, the power of Love is still there; you may not be around to see the effects of the Love you extend; Love heals, it transforms fear; Love has no boundaries, it transcends space and time; Love is steady, calm and unwavering; Love may look like inaction but it’s more powerful than any other action that can be taken.

Now as I go about my day and I see individuals acting in fearful ways, whether on the news or in my everyday life, I’ll remember to extend Love the way one loving house cat named Prince extended Love to a fearful feral cat named Taz.

Cindy Lyn Bartholome is a Pathways of Light student who lives in Crawford, Colorado. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Website: http://www.cindylyn.com

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