My spiritual father Reiner Vincenz loved cats.
He had a longing heart for France, the country of Joan of Arc. As a German missionary in the late 1960s, a young man then, he arrived in Paris to bring a new revelation from God. Penniless, hungry, lonely and rejected at the beginning, he felt comforted and guided by Joan’s apparitions and messages to him. But specially, he felt loved and inspired by cats! They would be in unexpected places, giving him signs of hope.
When I arrived in my hometown in the magnificent French Alps with my daughter this summer, we were greeted by an absolutely persistent, determined, loving cat. He came out of nowhere the moment we stepped out of our car, and decided to follow us and adopted us for an hour or so.
This “Katze” came with us up the hill. We would say Chat viens! (Cat come) and he would come as a dog would. When we sat on a bench, we said Chat viens and he jumped between us on the bench.
What an amazing cat! I saw it as a sign from Heaven from my spiritual father who was encouraging me: Continue on the way always with hope, faith, love and determination, like Katze le chat.
Before departing for France, our spiritual son and friend Sebastian gave me a quote which has been my motto over the summer:
Car à ses anges il donnera des ordres à ton sujet, pour qu ils te protègent sur tes chemins (For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.) Psalm 91:11.
I meditated every day on this saying that I was indeed protected by God’s angels. A fuzzy warm feeling came over me.
During our stay, we also went to visit Provence where one can see fields of blue lavender and where the sun always shines. Our hosts, Alphonsine and Claude, had prepared Provence style rooms and hospitality.
On the way there, we had so many experiences where everything was ready for us, organized by my angels. When the parking lot was full, one lady stood at the parking place waiting for us to arrive and park right there. She was an English teacher and happy to receive my bookmarks as a small thank you.
In another town, with the same busy summer crowd, out of the blue one shop keeper said, use my parking permit as long as you need it. The police know me, and I will not get a ticket but you will.
Manosque is a charming town in the south, not far from Aix en Provence and Grasse where delicious and exquisite perfumes are produced from fields of colorful flowers and scents of the south of France.
It is the town where Jean Giono was born and lived. He wrote Le hussard sur le toit (The Horseman on the Roof) which became a famous movie, and one of my favorite ones. Jean Giono wrote so poetically and with much heart.
When I was standing in front of his house, Jean gave me a sign that he was with me and happy that I could visit his town. I felt a shiver on my scalp. This translates as a message from spirit world, from the world unseen, as they greet me.
As we were touring the city, the city workers approached us if we wanted a kitten found in one of the town’s recycling bins. Alphonsine already had three cats and we were traveling so could not.
Coming back home to my adopted country of America, a cat was waiting for me.
His name is Winston. He likes to live on our porch, and comes inside only for eating or being petted. He is the outdoor cat who claimed our porch as his and took dominion there.
When it rains or thunders, he is a bit scared and runs under the porch, even though there are two cat houses on the porch that he could use. He likes it free and rough and sleeps on the hard floor. He is protecting my house and guarding it. Most of all he keeps away the mice. The good part is I speak French to him, and we understand each other.
What wonderful cats!
Dietrich F. Seidel 