All fear is past and only love is here
Lately, Patricia and I have been facing a major problem: Two of our three cats, la Kiara and Sassy, have not been getting along at all, to the point where they have literally drawn blood from each other. But thanks to a lot of prayer and a lot of love, we experienced a miracle that we hope is the beginning of a shift from fear to love in our little family of gatitas.
The background is this: la Kiara has been a solitary cat her entire life. So, when I came to live with Patricia and brought my cats Sassy and Chloe with me, la Kiara was not happy to share her home with these interlopers. That’s pretty normal for cats; it takes time for an older cat established in her home to get used to new arrivals. We figured that after an initial sorting out period, they would all learn to tolerate each other and even enjoy each other’s company.
Unfortunately, la Kiara and Sassy have been at odds with each other from the beginning. La Kiara just wanted to be left alone, but Sassy wanted to play. So, Sassy would approach la Kiara to play, but la Kiara would hiss and growl, apparently interpreting Sassy’s approach as an act of aggression. Sassy would keep on coming, apparently interpreting the hissing and growling as just part of the game. It seemed that neither cat was willing to change her mind. La Kiara refused to welcome her new playmate; Sassy refused to give la Kiara the space she needed.
That being said, it looked for a while like things were gradually improving. La Kiara was getting to the point where, at least some of the time, she would not growl at Sassy, and Sassy was leaving la Kiara alone more often. It seemed like they were going through the normal process of coming to terms with each other, and we just needed to be patient with it.
But then, things took a turn for the worse. One day, Sassy had a scratch on her face. A few days later, la Kiara had even worse scratches on her face. Apparently, they had started fighting, with claws unsheathed. (We knew it wasn’t Chloe; she has been as neutral as Switzerland in this conflict.) And we could see a newly aggressive shift in their attitude toward each other. La Kiara’s growling and hissing was now relentless, any time Sassy (or Chloe) came within her line of sight. Sassy continued to go after la Kiara, but now in a more aggressive way, as if to say, “You trying to pick a fight? Bring it on!”
Now we had a real problem on our hands. We couldn’t have these cats slicing each other up. So, we decided to pray about it. We felt guided to put the two in separate rooms when we were out of the house. But more to the heart of the matter, we felt guided to shower both cats with all the love we could, every chance we got. I remember one day we were doing the Workbook lesson “All fear is past and only love is here” (Lesson 293), and we decided to apply this lesson to this situation. So, we’ve taken every opportunity to show each cat that she is totally loved and totally safe.
And you know what? Something happened that really feels like a miracle: In the last three days, right on the heels of our prayers, Sassy has completely backed off and given la Kiara all the space she needs. Before, she had done that occasionally, but now it is every time. La Kiara continues to growl and hiss, but now Sassy just walks away. Okay, the skeptic might say that Sassy is just withdrawing out of fear, but I don’t think so. Sassy has always been utterly fearless, and I don’t think la Kiara’s growls intimidate her at all. No, I think that somehow Sassy has gotten the message that la Kiara needs some space to come to terms with her new housemates. It really seems that Sassy is choosing to be compassionate.
This has been a huge relief for Patricia and me. We don’t have to worry about pulling them apart any more. Yes, there’s still a long way to go; la Kiara’s growls and hisses continue. And for the time being, we’ll continue to put them in separate rooms while we’re out. But for the longest time, we have been waiting and hoping for one of our very stubborn cats to choose a “better way.” It seems like Sassy finally did. Thanks to this shift, we feel much more confident that in the long run, things will work out.
Our prayers continue, and we ask for the prayers of all CCC members as this situation continues to unfold. We know that with the power of prayer, as our cats continue to get to know each other, the time will come when all fear is past and only love is here.