What I Learned From My Shedding Cat

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The other night my dad and I were looking at our cat, Cubby, and my dad commented on how gnarly he was looking. He is 12, so I figured it was just age. But then when I looked at him closer I realized he was shedding up a storm. As in clumps of hair sticking out at all angles.

So when I should've been heading to bed, I dug out the ol' brush and started in on him. I ended up with enough hair to weave a sweater! Cubby loved this extra attention, and the brushing part probably felt like the best scratch he'd had in awhile.

I got to thinking ... how can I put this experience into a blog post? Ha ha. No, seriously ... :)

Then I thought of Eustace Scrubb. Remember him from C.S. Lewis' Narnia series? In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (read no more if you don't want plot spoilers) he was really a rotten chap for most of the story. Greed finally got the better of him, and he turned into a dragon. That was fun for awhile, but eventually he just wanted to be a boy again. Only he couldn't turn himself back anymore than he'd purposely turned himself into the dragon. He cried and wailed, but he couldn't shed the dragon skin.

He finally called out for help, and Aslan, the kind yet not-a-tame-lion to help him peel away the dragon skin, his old nature, and become a new creature.

It was the same way with my cat. He couldn't brush away that old, dead hair anymore than Eustace could peel away his dragon skin. And I can't remove my old nature---those bad habits, wrong thoughts and things I wish I wouldn't do but do anyway. By myself that is. I can't do it on my own. That's actually a relief to realize. It doesn't have to happen in my strength. All I need to do is cry out for help, and my Aslan, Jesus, will help me. It's that simple but I forget it so often.

Who would've thought my shedding cat would teach me that? :)

Do You Have A Prince Caspian Spirit?

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It's no secret my main goal as a writer is to have my novels published. I think it's the goal of many writers. But as I near the 12 year mark on my writing journey I've begun to ask myself, "Am I really ready to be published?"

A few days ago I said, "Yes, of course I'm ready. I've been been learning non-stop for twelve years. I'm more than ready!"

But as I got to thinking about this, a change came over me. I think it was the Lord tempering my zeal (in a good way). And believe it or not, I thought of Prince Caspian.

Remember in the book (and movie) where Aslan asks him if he's ready to be King of Narnia? His response was hesitation. He wasn't sure if he was. And Aslan said, in effect, "If you had said you were, it would have proven you weren't."

I realized that by admitting my uncertainties of being a published novelist I was actually in a better place than if I'd been cocky and sure. Granted, it's okay to have confidence. But is my heart in the right place? Am I clothing myself with humility and a teachable spirit? I hope my answer will always be yes to that question.

And here right now is another example of the power of story. C.S. Lewis penned Prince Caspian fifty years ago, before computers, the internet, Twitter, Blogger, and the like. And here I am writing about learning from his book.