Purrs 4 Peace- Week 15 Announcement: GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT DOESN'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

“If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.” ~Bob Hope

We should all be haunted by the spirit of generosity

So many humans these days seem to be playing Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol” - Only they are Scrooge before the ghosts. They lack in any kind of compassion or feeling of generosity toward animals or even their fellow man. They seem small and petty in their stinginess.

During the last few weeks we have purred for specific CAUSES. But it occurs to me that surely, world peace would be closer at hand if there weren’t so much strife from humans fighting each other over the desire to acquire and hoard “stuff”.

Perhaps stinginess is part of nature, part of the instinct for self preservation. When I see another cat with his face pressed against the window of my house wanting to get inside - wanting what I have - I feel threatened. My first instinct is to snarl and caterwaul. I want to make him go away. I don’t want to share the wonderful warmth (or cool) of my house, the abundant food and clean water, the plentiful love. If that other cat gets some of what I have...then somehow I’ll have less.

But what if I think about what that other cat must be feeling. Like me he doesn’t want the pain of chilling cold. Like me he wants to feel the comfort of a full belly. Like me he longs to feel loving arms around him. If I empathize with that other cat, it’s a lot harder not to be generous and open the door wide. It's more difficult not to share with that other cat. I have so much. would it really be so very bad to do with a little less so that someone else could have a little more?

What does our Scrooge-like miserly hoarding say about how what we think of God and/or the Universe. If we see God’s love as limitless and the Universe as endlessly bountiful, then sharing with others isn’t depriving ourselves of something because there is always MORE out there for us.

So I’m going to pledge to TRY not to feel threatened when that other cat comes to the window. I may not be willing to let him all the way in to my house just yet...but I do think I should tell mummy to give him some food and water and cuddles.

Therefore, this week we purr so that everyone can experience a generosity of spirit. We purr to promote sharing. We purr for peace.

Week 15 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week fifteen’s appointed time is Sunday, September 20, 2009.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. EDT (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) BST in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

* A special note: This week’s purrs are dedicated to our friend Pepi Price (@Pepismartdog) who passed over the Rainbow Bridge this week. Pepi and his mum epitomize the generosity of spirit that we should all have. Pepi and his mum are great champions for the cause of getting older animals a forever home.