On any given day or night they are both sound asleep. (Or, are they?) A loud sound, a foreign movement alarms them to alert. But in the meantime, and I mean a long, long “mean time”, they represent what we all desire during those eight, luscious hours between our TV and the new day.

My two cats, Owen and Elsie, named after my nephew’s children. When their time comes, I told my nephew that he needs to have more kids. He didn’t reply to that email.

Tails that normally wag showing either joy or deep concern are now tightly held between two legs with a body that forms an embryo. Those are only the physical details, it’s their sublime peace that I witness when I peak into their supposedly hidden places.

It’s called a “cat nap” but to us, that means ten minutes of rest behind our desk before the next meeting. For these two, it means what only nature has decreed. What God’s provided for his living creatures.

I could attempt to list the words that describe their sleepy solitude, describing what would be the envy of us all. Their sleeping presence is the hope of all of our Church prayers – calm, quiet, tranquility, contentedness, free of distress in the midst of all that is presently occurring in our lives.

I like the word “bliss.” My apartment cats define that word while sleeping. Total and immaculate, completely. The beauty of our Christian faith is to know that my cat’s sleeping experience can be experienced in our waking and sleeping lives as well.

When we get up in the morning, please unfold that tail of yours because the new day will not always be about you and how wonderful you are. Then, blissfully, lead, and live your day to the glory of God through carefully chosen words, a genuine smile, and always an alert for unknown or loud sounds.