Cheshire Cat Theology ~ Ears Up

Greetings Dear Reader,

Have you ever watched a cat listen?  Cats catch, perceive, and hear sound very differently.  Their hearing is better than dogs. Mice, however, can hear in a higher range than cats.

Even when we see cats in silhouette, their ears are one of the things that define them as cats.  In Lewis Carrol’s work, it is the Cheshire Cat who truly listens to Alice.  He responds to what she actually is saying as opposed to what one may assume she is saying. We all know the basic rules of listening.  We know that we need to sincerely engage in hearing what others say instead of being distracted or planning our response.

My Grandfather used to tell me that the Father gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.  His intent was to teach me to listen twice as much as I speak.  One of the greatest compliments I have received is to be told that I really listen to others.  It takes effort.  It is another aspect of being in the moment with others and with Christ. 

I am convinced that if I am going to seek Christ in every moment and show my love to the Father in everything, I must really listen. If I am engaged with what is being said and hearing what is meant, others are more likely to say what they really need to say.  They may find a place to stand to express their needs. 

If my Cheshire Cat Theology is going to work, I must listen to the Father and hear as he would.  Further, I must respond in the way that he does.  We begin with love, grace, and kindness.  We continue by seeing people as worthy of our clear attention and giving our best in every encounter. 

Exchanges between humans must be kind and loving.  They must include the idea that even when others speak in anger, hatred, or malice, beneath it all there is a truth that needs to be heard.  They may not ever speak it but it is there and our love can find it.  In that listening, we find the ability to reach into the heart of a person and help them find their way home.  That, Dear Reader, is one of the ways in which we can master the art of fading away so that people can learn how intently the Father listens; it is how we learn to truly hear.  So I say, ears up.

The Vigil – Kemper Crabb

Waiting for flame in eye of night, I am the fuel for your fire
Light calls ever unto light. Make me a fleshen pyre.
Touch my lips with the altering coal; leave your shining upon my soul.
Zion shall ever be my goal; Zion the telling of light.

Scanning the silence with inward ears; life is a listening.
Enfolded in echoes of timeless years; the Word comes whistling.
Build my being from your throat; meld my meaning with every note.
Wrap me round in an aural cloak, so I may truly hear.

Drawn towards destinies darkling kite, riven by reality
Riding the passion to terrible height, life upon death’s tree
Cause me to drink from the chalice of fire. Forge me anew in the heat of desire
Let me inhabit the holy empire and make war on the armies of night.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.

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“Build my being from your throat.  Meld my meaning with every note.  Wrap me round in an aural cloak that I may truly hear” – Kemper Crabb