Every Saturday I was there cutting Mrs. Keiter’s grass. And every Saturday like clockwork she would bring me out a glass of Lemonade and a $20 bill for my trouble. But this Saturday was a lot more trouble than usual. “Just stop chasing her!” she said. “You’ll never catch her, she’s too fast. Just go on about your business. She’ll come back… she’s too nosy to stay away.”

 I could see the white ball of fur stalking me from the corner of my eye; stealthy, sneaky, and always just out of reach. I tried on a number of occasions that day to surprise my neighbor’s new cat and grab her while she wasn’t paying attention. The cat would dart in front of the lawn mower or walk just behind me tripping me up whenever I reversed my course. I was distracted and cutting the grass this day took at least twice as long as usual.

 “Don’t pay her any attention at all” Mrs. Keiter instructed. Yeah right, I thought. How could I think of anything else?  The cat was in the way… underfoot… and on my mind; a definite distraction. “If you busy yourself with what you’re here to do, she’ll eventually find you.”  Those instructions offered from the screened porch made little sense to me, but I complied. I buried myself in the yard work.  For absent stretches that long August afternoon I forgot all about the cat until I noticed that the cat had taken up station right next to me.

 “See son, I told you if you stop trying to catch her she’d find you” I overheard a friendly voice sing in the background. For the rest of the day, every time I moved the cat moved and took up a new position right next to me… interesting.

 “Mrs. Keiter, you have a really strange cat.” She looked at me and squeezed her forehead into a not, “How so?” “Well, as long as I was chasing the cat it ran from me, hid in trees, hid under the house, and did anything I could to not be caught. But once I got busy doing the yard work and forgot about the cat then it came up to me.” Mrs. K. smiled and explained, “That just means she’s more comfortable as your partner than your possession. I means she doesn’t want to be trapped she wants to be trusted. And she doesn’t want to be your focus, she wants to be your friend.”

 “Cats aren’t that smart” I accidentally thought out loud. “Well this one is” Mrs. K. snorted in reply. Embarrassed I tried to hurry up and change the subject. “So what’s her name?” I asked sheepishly. “I haven’t named her yet, what do you think I should name her?” she offered sensing I was a bit uncomfortable. I was silent. “Snowball or Bunny maybe?” she wondered aloud to break the silence. I thought to myself a better name might be “Lightning” or “Ghost”.  But Mrs. K. kept pressing and thinking out loud… I was obviously of very little use so I just kept quiet.

 She said she wanted a name that really captured the spirit of her new cat. She wanted a name that explained how the cat thought and conducted herself. She said, “ I need a name that will let everyone know just what to expect when they…” her thoughts then suddenly trailed off to silence. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it… I know the perfect name for her. Her name is ‘Love’… And if you can remember that name you should always be able to remember exactly how to treat her.”

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Steven "Bo" Beaudoin Jr.
Author, Speaker, Motivator, and "Secret Weapon".
a champion of Christ centered clarity, motivation, and focus.
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