Something amazing just happened to me as I sat down to start my blogging today. This is an extremely rare event for many reasons but one that as soon as it happened my brain kicked into overdrive (or maybe it was my heart that did?). As I sat at my kitchen table, my very skiddish cat came over to my feet and started rubbing and purring. I reached down and rubbed her face expecting her to take off as soon as my hand approached her. She stayed there, flopped to her back and proceeded to rub on my hand and then on my bag and then on my legs, etc. Now, as I said, this is a rare thing. Pixie the cat does not cuddle. She looks at you, and may let you rub her head for about a second, but anything beyond that just doesn’t happen. 
There are several reasons for this, namely my 8 year old, my 6 year old and my 7 year miniature schnauzer Max. Max maybe the biggest culprit. Max and Pixie have a love hate relationship. Every morning, Max finds it completely necessary to attack the cat – this again happens when I get home and then again when Joy gets home. The attacks usually end after dinner and Max is ready to chill for the night, which is of course when Pixie finds it necessary to begin retaliating. At bed time, Pixie waits on the dark steps for Max to go up to bed. He starts up the stairs and she pounces like a lion on a weak and frightened gazelle. It’s hysterical, unless you’re caught in the middle, but even then it’s chuckle worthy.
While Pixie is not into the whole touch/affection thing, Max craves it. He’s been known to jump on a lap and plop down when you’re just tying shoes. If you’re sitting on the couch and he wants you to touch him, he’ll nuzzle your hand until you do. He’s not content to sit at your feet or to be in the same room – he wants to touch. If the boys are playing games, he’s next to them. If I’m at the table typing he’s either sitting on a foot or somewhere where he can stare at me. It can be a little unnerving to be engrossed in reading or typing and look up to see this little black eyed, bearded dog staring a hole into you! The two animals couldn’t be much more opposite!
So this afternoon, when the dog was sitting in another room and the cat was wanting attention, it dawned on me that this little feline treated me in a very selfish way. She wants attention when she wants attention and even then she’s coy about it. Max isn’t that way at all – I walk in the door and his tail goes into wiggle off mode. He’s just happy to see me. The cat couldn’t care less unless she wants to eat.
Our community has been living through the story of the exile and we’re going to begin talking about what I believe are the foundations for renewal for a church in exile during the month of August. I believe that the ancient hebrews learned what those foundations were as they returned from their Exile – Prayer, Praise and Worship. Foundations are put in place to give stability and security to a building or project. You can’t build a house or a building without some form of foundation. The same is true with our relationship with God. There are certain things that need to happen and need to continue to happen if the relationship with God is going to grow. Notice I said if the relationship was going to grow, not that these things need to happen in order to find or know of God’s love or salvation – that is a very different thing.
These foundations make our relationships strong and when the winds and rains come they are what hold the walls of our faith together. Without worship, and prayer and a good dose of praise, we lose our ability to stand upheld. Even in dry times of the soul, or what St. John of the Cross calls the Dark Night of the Soul, it’s praise and worship and prayer that can keep the pilgrim going. It’s these foundations that I can return to in those dark moments and when I engage them I can hope again. I may not have the house rebuilt and I may not feel like skipping across a field, but I at least know my head is pointed in the right direction. That’s what foundations do, they bring you back to the basics – to the elements of the relationship.
This leads me back to Max and Pixie. As Pixie was rubbing on my arm, and I thought about her selfishness, I realized I’m more like the cat then I am the dog. I think of my relationship with God and those foundations when I’m ready, or when I’m in need. If things are hitting the fan and I’m stressed out, I’m looking for the attention and the focus that the foundations of Prayer and Praise and Worship bring. But that’s not what the foundations are instilled into my life for – not as second pieces or “run to when I’m having problems”, but as the daily elements of my life. The foundations aren’t there for me only when I have a need or I want attention, but they’re there to deepen me and my relationship with our God.
What if I treated my relationship with God and these foundational elements of that relationship more like Max treats me? What if I greeted God every day with a look of joy and complete trust? What if I didn’t come to hang out with him when I wanted attention or had a need but went to sit and just be with Him – Max doesn’t sit next to me so I’ll give him a bone, but because he wants to be close. What if I realized that this time could happen anywhere and not just in a worship service? What if I could sit with him at the kitchen table or on the couch or in my office or in my car and know that worship can happen, prayer can happen, praise can happen and my relationship with God can deepen?
So, today I’m going to chose to be more like Max. I’m going to be in prayer that I’ll not just go and sit with my father when I’m in need, but I’ll go and sit with him just to let him know how thankful I am that he’s with me. I’m going to pray that I’ll have that longing to be close like Max has the need to be close to me or the rest of the family. I don’t want to sit on a chair far away and observe, I want to be with him, sharing time and knowing his love as we interact. I hope that this week, you’ll have time to sit with the Father and you’ll be able to attend to the Foundations. May you find your way to sit and reflect and know how wide and how deep and great the love of the Father is for You!