Our story begins about a half a century ago in the backyard of a little girl named Catelee. A sweet girl with an enchanting personality, Catelee made it a habit to venture into her backyard to play and explore on a daily basis; she was 4 years old.
Her mother was a young woman who had recently celebrated her 28th birthday. Frances was a stay at home mom who longed to get back to her career as a telephone operator. Staying at home all day with a precocious child didn’t seem to fulfill all of her desires and dreams that were yet to come, for her relatively new family. She wanted to contribute more, especially financially.
When Frances gave birth to Catelee, 12 months after her wedding, she was not a typical mom. She had worked most of her life since she was 14, for her mother and father, in whatever business they were established in and she was quite independent. Motherhood was not instantaneous to her, but she found that she loved her little girl with all her heart; but was not equipped to handle babies for lack of experience. Frances’ mother helped her familiarize herself with motherhood and as a byproduct of that relationship, Catelee had a profound love for her loving grandmother as well. Grandma, found herself doting on her grandchild as Francis was an only child; as is Catelee, at least until she is nine years old.
Then, there was Richard, Catelee’s father. Richard worked for a prominent airline of that day as a mechanic. He was quite the harsh taskmaster of his home but was a bright light to Catelee when she was young. In her eyes, her dad could do no wrong and as she claimed quite often; every time they drove past where her father worked, “That’s where my daddy works, he can fix ANYthing”!
Her father was a tall man with a dramatic frame. To the little towhead, bright blue-eyed girl, daddy was a giant of a man with stern, steel-blue eyes. There was however, always room in his over- sized lap for her to curl up in. She loved the smell of daddy’s Old Spice and to this day, that scent reminds her of a life that was warm and decent. It was remarked by others at the time, that she looked just like her daddy, but that even though her eyes were the same steely blue color, there was something different about them. They were bluer, deeper perhaps. Maybe they were even more infinite, compassionate and loving. No matter what the consensus was, she definitely had “her Father’s eyes”!
It was a warm, late spring afternoon that found our little champion in the backyard of her home, smelling another familiar and cherished scent, that of the pink oleander bush in the corner of her yard. It too, was mildly sweet. Almost like a take on maple syrup but softer…not spicy either, more like; caramel sweet.
After playing and exploring her own kingdom for about an hour, our young girl, intoxicated by the oleander, was a bit fatigued and decided to lie down on, the velvety green lawn that carpeted her world. Catelee began looking up at the sky and at the fluffy clouds, creating different images in her mind. They were the kind of images that children create when their minds slow down and they begin to focus on their originality and ingenuity. As all young people do, she began to see things in the clouds that were familiar to her…a pony, a turtle, a rabbit and so on. This little exercise took about 20 minutes or so, which is an eternity in the imagination of a child. She began to wonder just how it was that those images got up there in the sky for her to enjoy. As soon as the thought entered her head, as if she were being awoke from a day dream by a parent, she heard a voice kindly and tenderly telling her…”It was I who put those in the sky for your enjoyment and benefit”.
Knowing that her daddy had gone to work already, Catelee called to her mother. Looking around, she saw nothing; nothing but the yard and the trees, bushes and the sky surrounding her. In her soul, something of which she knew nothing about, she knew the voice talking to her but couldn’t place it. Finally, she asked out loud, “Who are YOU”?
The answer came from inside her ear but was not from her head or imagined. It came to her in a “still small voice” that was so soft and filled with compassion. “I am your Father, called God”. She answered the voice, informing HIM that, her daddy was at work. To this, HE gave her the news that HE was her Father, which is in Heaven.
Being a little unsettled by all of this, Catelee ran from the yard to her mother inside the house. Her young but brilliant mind was working at a fevered pitch. Finding Mama in the kitchen, she first asked for something cool to drink. Francis reached into the refrigerator to get a pitcher of ice cold sweet tea. After Catelee drank her refreshment, she felt her body and mind calm from the earlier excitement she had felt and began to slowly quiz her mother.
Mom was not terribly prepared for what her daughter was about to lay onto her, but looking back, Catelee realized, that she gave the best answers she could at the time. Answers, unbeknownst to either one of them at the time, were given to her mother by God, Himself.
Catelee began…”Mama, who is God”?
Frances, at first startled by the abruptness of the topic said, “God is the Father of everyone”.
“Everyone… then who is God’s daddy”, inquired Catelee, continuing to quiz her mother?”
Mom was taken aback again, but answered as best she could, remembering all the Sunday school and Catechism classes she attended when she was a girl; courtesy of her mother and grandmother. She searched her memory and came up with…”God has no daddy, HE is the Father of everything and everyone in the world and the skies.”
“But where did HE come from” pressed Catelee?
Frances once again, came up with the answer, “HE has ALWAYS been and always will be”.
Not really understanding what it was her mother was saying at this point, Catelee commented that, “God must be really, really big, huh?”
Becoming a little un-nerved by the Q & A, Frances intimated that perhaps Catelee should go back outside and enjoy the weather a little longer, as it would soon be suppertime and time for her to come in for the day.
The little white-headed girl bounced off of the bar-stool at the counter of the kitchen and joyfully carried on outside with her conversation to God. Getting back into the same spot she left, lying down on the cool lawn, looking upwards to the sky, she returned to her spiritual Friend and Father to involve HIM in more Q & A. Now, she was closing her eyes, trying to see God in her mind… but she couldn’t imagine HIM.
She curtly asked HIM, “Well, what do you look like, do I know you”?
God was happy to answer her still and told her that, “You cannot see me now, and you know me but not as well as I would like, but you will later”.
“Do my Mama and Daddy know you too”?
“Not as much as they used too, which makes me sad”.
“Why are you sad”?
“I want everyone in the world to KNOW ME”.
“Why, God”?
“Because, I love all of MY Creation and all of MY People…will you Love ME”?
“Yes…I love YOU”!
Before HE left, HE whispered in a soft, still voice…”I will always Love you and when others ask you, ‘whose eyes you have’, you can tell them, that you have your Father’s Eyes”.
Catelee is a grown, middle-aged woman now. She looks back on that day in her backyard and remembers all that has come and gone from that day to this with great fondness and joy. Even though all through her life there were incidents of tragedy and loss, and times when she felt as though she didn’t know which way was up; she counts them all as gladness now because she can see God now.
In retrospect, she sees her life, and each time she felt alone and in suffering, she saw where God was there, guiding her and putting things to right. The little enjoyable conversation that took place those many years ago, was now, put into a greater perspective. Not knowing then, exactly what God would mean to her in the future (immediate or otherwise), the one thing she understood then and now, was that she was listening to truth, love and compassion.
Up to that moment of her life, she had been too young to understand the concept of God. She had never even heard HIM mentioned among household conversations, as Frances and Richard had ceased ever going to church of any kind. Catelee had no foreknowledge of anything spiritual but always, there was God, leading her down paths that would give her the wisdom and knowledge she sought. For awhile too, her Grandma and Great-Grandmother became part of those paths. They taught Catelee the same way they taught her mother. Was it all correct and true? Well, not everything, but God gave HIS daughter the gift of discernment. As she has learned over the many years, God has promised her many gifts which have come to pass. Among these have been the “greatest” of gifts which are Faith, Hope and Love, the greatest of these being Love.
There have been a great many conversations with God since that first one, all those years ago. A lot of people have even claimed the woman is crazy but by the actions of her life, shown on a daily basis to others, those people have been proven to be liars. Her children adore her with the same love she has shown to them, the same love, that God showed to her. Her friends admire her with the same admiration that she shows God. She’s never met a stranger and helps the helpless out of her abundance. When people see her, they know who she looks like…why. Because people see that HE is IN her and she does the things her Father does. Catelee belongs to God, the Father…
She sees the hope and fears of all of us and the Love and Truth and Compassion in HIS eyes. When she looks in the mirror, she knows there is one certainty...and that certainty is that she has her Father’s Eyes!
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Author’s Final Comments
The story you have just read is true as they were recalled to the author. The names have been changed to protect an innocent.
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