Our granddaughter, the Grand Miss Haisley, introduced me to a book by Brendan Wenzel. They All Saw a Cat recounts the different ways various creatures view the title character. Each sees the feline through a unique lens.

They all saw a cat.

I possess a carefully constructed self-image, which includes a begrudging acknowledgement of my foibles and eccentricities. A few flaws accompany my overwhelming virtues, but what’s not to love? I’m delightful!

They all saw a cat differently.

I wonder how others perceive me. What blind spots limit my self-awareness? What glaring weaknesses do most note? What potential strengths do some see?

God saw a cat.

Mr. Wenzel doesn’t include a theological perspective, but I added another page to the book. How does God see you and me?

• Genesis declares we bear the Creator’s image.
• The Psalmist recognizes that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
• John writes that the Lord sent God’s Son into the world to save us.

They all saw a cat.

But they all saw the cat differently. Perception shapes reality.  

What does God see?

This week’s blog features my semiannual rant on changing times. Daylight Saving Time ended in the wee hours last Sunday morning. Most of the nation fell back from 2:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

I love Daylight Saving Time and an “additional” hour of sunlight each evening. I despise the weekends our nation adds or deletes 60 minutes of time.

The US Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act in March 2022. The legislation called for permanent Daylight Saving Time. The House of Representatives sadly never voted on the law. The odds don’t look any better this year.  

A critic wrote about a play, “A great way to kill time for those wishing it dead.”

God’s gift of time is a gift too precious to waste—or give away—every spring.

Let’s approve Daylight Saving Time forever and call it something creative like, “Time.”  

All Saints Day occurs on November 1 in the church calendar. Christians celebrate our honored dead have ascended from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant. This Sunday Northside Church will recall our members who have died during the past year. We will read the names, light candles, and toll bells in their sacred memory.

The United Methodist Book of Worship includes a powerful prayer in A Service of Death and Resurrection. Prayerfully consider the words.

O God, who gave us birth,

You are ever more ready to hear than we are to pray.

You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in the asking.

Give to us now your grace that as we shrink before the mystery of death,

We may see the light of eternity.

Speak to us once more your solemn message of life and of death.

Help us to live as those who are prepared to die.

And when our days here are accomplished,

enable us to die as those who go forth to live.

So that living or dying, our life may be in you,

And that nothing in life or in death will be able to separate us

From your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

AMEN!