I’ve learned a lot from watching my two kitties, Tilly & Stevey. While most of their actions annoy me, horrify me, worry me, and surprise me, sometimes their interactions with each other really touch my heart and serve as a good lesson for me. Here’s an example. Stevey is a true “Cookie Monster.” He would love to eat only treats and skip proper meals altogether. Every night after they have dinner, I give Tilly & Stevey each some treats. Stevey gobbles his down quickly and then goes over to Tilly, who savors her treats and eats them more slowly. Stevey used to help himself to Tilly’s treats while she was eating them, until I put a stop to that by gently restraining him so that Tilly could enjoy her treats.
Now, after Stevey has eaten all his treats, he just sits next to Tilly and patiently watches her eat her treats. Once she’s finished, she usually walks away and Stevey sniffs the floor where her treats were to make sure she didn’t forget to eat one (she usually doesn’t, much to Stevey’s disappointment). One day, however, as I was watching Tilly eating her treats (with Stevey watching her like a hawk) she stopped eating and looked up at Stevey for a few seconds. She ate one more treat, looked at Stevey again, and walked away – leaving two treats untouched.
Stevey made his usual nose inspection and found the two treats, which he snapped up quickly. Tilly saw that Stevey had been watching her. She knows how much he loves treats. I think leaving a few of her treats for him was her special “kitty” way of showing him that she loves him. That scene reminds me of Leviticus 23:22: “When you harvest your land’s produce, you must not harvest all the way to the edge of your field; and don’t gather every remaining bit of your harvest. Leave these items for the poor and the immigrant; I am the Lord your God.” This is called gleaning.
In the Bible, gleaning is the act of collecting leftover grain or other harvested material left behind by reapers. It was a command from God for those with resources to leave something extra for the poor to provide for themselves.
The Law of Moses mandated that landowners leave some of their harvest for gleaners. Spiritual gleaning is the idea of having an abundance of the fruit of the Spirit to share with others. Some say that spiritual gleaning results in nourishing our souls through Scripture; seeking ways to learn, grow, and deepen our understanding of the ways of Jesus; and finding ways to grow to help build the Kingdom of God here on earth.
How many of us leave something behind for today’s everyday gleaners who so desperately need it?
Do we carry with us extra compassion, patience, acceptance, and grace that we can extend to those who are hungry for a kind word or a warm smile? Perhaps we can take this “kitty cue” from Tilly – and from the author of Hebrews 13:16: “Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.”
As the author of Luke’s Gospel instructs us: “Whoever has two shirts (or two shrimp cat treats –
my insert) must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same”
(Luke 3:11).
