During a covid shutdown in 2020, I received a kitten. She has become one of the most consistent aspects of my life, and makes me remember how much I had taken close proximity to other human beings for granted before 2020. In that season distanced from others, she was the warm fuzz ball of life who remained close to me.
The velvet-like strands of fur on her tiny face remind me of how God’s thoughts of us outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139:18). The beautiful patterns of her coat bring to mind Jesus’ words: “why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin” (Matthew 6:28). Life with this little beast gives me glimpses into the immensity of what we have received from him who created us in love.
If you have a furry friend at home, you know you will find fur attached to your clothes later when you are at work, a reminder that you share a home with a four-legged companion. If fur will cling to our clothes every day without fail, how much more so does the Holy Spirit pursue and dwell with us through our daily commutes and labors, tirelessly present in this physical existence truncated by the time and space of God’s creation?
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
In response to Paul’s exhortation, we can glorify God by operating in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will guard our souls until the end of the age (Ephesians 1:14). Since “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17b), the possibilities of how we can glorify God, even within the limitations of our physical existence, are boundless.