10 Feb 2019
An elderly community cat hadn’t been sighted for 2 days. Feeders searched and called for him to no avail.
I followed the exchanges on the chat group and picked up the mounting unease of one of the veteran feeders who is usually very composed.
On Friday evening at the temple I dedicated a light to all animal beings. (It’s the Lunar New Year season and Street Dog Care’s 10th Anniversary after all.)
On Sat morning the lost cat was found.
He was injured. Someone heard a weak meow coming from the drain, another person carried him out and a whole family took him to the vet.
Maybe the timing of the butter lamp dedication and the cat finding was just a fortunate coincidence.
But light, which is the universal symbol for divine presence, is a source of comfort and encouragement to the fearful and the anxious, regardless of beliefs. It is also an expression of gratitude for divine companionship when the material world fails us.
And now I get it when my grandma had such a high regard for all rituals involving Fire. We thought she was nuts when she told us the Fire is listening.
So even as we read news of bush fires in Australia and of charger exploding in a home elsewhere, may we not be discouraged, but continue to develop a healthy relationship with Fire.
And may all beings feeling lost or in distress turn to the Light and be comforted and healed. 🙏
Lisa Ong 