The collected life & sayings of Dwight the #theologycat
A complete & accurate account to date
Gentle reader,
My new kitten, Dwight, has been offering CATechesis on my social media feeds. If you haven't met #theologycat or you'd like to see Dwight’s wisdom in one place, this post is for you. Join the catechumenate!
Welcome home baby cat!
Today, Dwight is practicing brave but sometimes ill advised leaps as well as purring.
A parable re: the kingdom of heaven. For decades I have been afraid of & slightly disdainful of cats, but now I am blessed with new love. With what else might the Lord bring me reconciliation? (Dwight says hello; today he is focused on purring.)
Tyger Tyger. burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (William Blake)
Dwight emerges unafraid from his carrier on his first trip to the vet. I like to think it’s because he trusts me as the one who carried him there. May we too emerge unafraid.
Dwight flexing the majesty of his cathood.
Dwight knows that orthodoxy & feminism are two sides of the same coin, and he suggests that if you only like one of those words you might be missing out on some good things.
Dwight loves the word “beast” & advises no guilt over the theological distinction between humans & animals. He’s quite happy in his beastiness & thinks the correct target of suspicion is not anthropocentrism but rather denigration of created goodness in all its kinds.
Dwight decries Trinitarian subordinationism in all its insidious forms.
Dwight notes angels are creatures & not divine. Time and gravity too are creatures, as is Dwight. Creatures differ according to fuzziness, which is accidental to creaturehood, & probably to Dwighthood, but is nonetheless delightful.
Dwight is considering a peaceable kingdom situation around here, provided it’s clear that he is the lion.
Dwight heard this evil, nonsensical phrase “Christian nationalism.” His innocence is gone.
Dwight knows it’s fun to tease about calling everything Gnosticism, but he also knows it is too easy to forget that God so loved THIS WORLD, and this world, including fluffball kittens and you, matters.
Dwight is pondering the goodness of a God who sustains all creation in the mercy of his love.
Today, Dwight is contemplating the majesty of his tail, which is related—analogically—to the majesty of the LORD most high, who does not leave us without witness to said majesty.
Dwight invites you to consider whether you might relax into and delight in the love of the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. Kinda like this.
Today, Dwight would like to share this poem.
from Jubilate Agno BY CHRISTOPHER SMART
For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him. For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness. For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer. For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
Dwight is musing on St Vincent of Lérins (d. c. 445), whose rule for discerning faith was that we should believe that which is shared “always, everywhere & by all” Christians. Becoming a theologian is learning to know just this faith, when we see it.
Did you know that cats have a floating clavicle, which helps them squeeze through tight spaces? Dwight suspects that biodiversity is a lot of fun for God.
Dwight knows there is no fear in love, for perfect love drives out fear.
K. Tanner notes that humans are the only creatures who need to be transformed to become what we were meant to be. Humans must become godly, while dogs glorify God simply by being dogly. Dwight assumes this applies to cats too & glorifies God in his catiness.
Dwight is quoting Psalm 140, “I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy,” which is a piece of the doctrine of God and so of Christian ethics.
Dwight is purring the goodness of creation, the goodness of the Creator, the goodness of fur and snuggling and breakfast.
Dwight knows that prayer is theology and theology is nothing without prayer.
Dwight knows that theology is not opposed to technology, but he also knows how difficult it is to order use of tech towards its proper ends. Like eating the boy’s phone.
Choose between creation and Pentecost, you say? Dwight knows that’s a false choice, & if it seems otherwise to us, that’s because we see through a glass, darkly.
Dwight is contemplating the miracle of divine revelation. Think of all it means, that we have seen God’s glory!
Dwight got his vaccines today, for theological reasons: 1) the good of the community 2) the compatibility of faith & science 3) willingness to sacrifice for others. He also got dewormed, for which he has only personal reasons.
Dwight doesn’t know precisely what the animal kingdom will look like in the kingdom to come, but he does know that he’s safe in the loving arms of the King, forever & ever, Amen.
Dwight maintains that Augustine was among the greatest diagnosticians of human nature; “I was not yet in love, yet I loved to love...I sought what I might love, in love with loving.”
Dwight is into sharing resources, because the earth is the LORD’s, & everything in it.
Dwight gets it. We’d all love clear answers to complicated questions. But if God is God, we’d better expect some confounding & beautiful mysteries instead.
You're INVITED to join me & Christina Bieber Lake for our Fiction & Theology book club July, 12, 2022, discussing Ted Chiang's *Exhalation.* See the homepage for registration.
Dwight hopes you find ease and rest in the arms of the LORD. Kinda like this.
Dwight likes to imagine St. Monica in heaven, praying the prayers she once prayed for Augie for all the parents aching for their children here on earth. She still has tears on her face, but no longer of anguish. Now they’re tears of joy because she sees how safe our babies are in God’s hands.
Dwight suggests that your friendly neighborhood house cat is a reminder that Aslan is not a tame lion. Cats are sacramentals of wildness, & Dwight will consider growing a mane.
Dwight is quoting Catherine of Siena, noting Jesus-as-bridge language is not at all new; “look at the Bridge of My only-begotten Son…for it reaches from Heaven to earth…the earth of your humanity is joined to the greatness of the Deity thereby.”
Dwight has a serious biting problem. This is not sin, but immaturity. The distinction between sin & immaturity does not threaten the doctrine of original sin. (Cats aren’t sinners; this is just an illustration.)
You can find links to all things Dwight here.
Grace & peace,
BFJ
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