GOD, DO-OVERS, AND HORSES OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

I seem to have an association in my mind between autumn and horse shows.

Growing up on the north shore of Long Island – about 26 miles outside of New York City— there seemed to be many horse shows in our neck of the woods during the Fall season. I remember in the background there would be beautiful trees with red and yellow leaves, while riders and horses would be jumping over steeple chase barriers in a large fenced in field of green.

I have not now, nor have I ever, taken riding lessons. But when growing up, so many of my friends were a little equestrians. They would often invite me to come to their riding competitions. It was fun watching many of them win blue and other colored ribbons.

In my 20s and 30s I was several times invited to attend very extravagant horse shows where there were sumptuous tents full of exquisite food and alcohol. I feel guilty that the thoroughbreds did all of the work, and we humans got almost all of the good food.

When my late wife, Debbie, and I bought a small second home in Amherst County, we would often visit Sweetbriar College. The equestrian facilities at the college were fantastic. Our daughter Robin, was a very little girl at the time, and students would just love to pick her up and let her pet the horses. Robin even got a chance to groom and feed a few of these trusty steeds.

There were a number of beautiful riding stables near our Amherst County home, and Debbie really enjoyed taking riding lessons. She tried to convince me to become an equestrian of sorts.

I refused to do this because I could never figure out why an incredible animal – – which was so big and powerful – – should ever listen to, and follow, the commands from little-old-me. That didn’t make sense to me.

I must tell you there really is something to be said about the Law of Attraction. Negative thoughts often do trigger and draw to us negative reactions.

We would be at a national park, or some out of town riding stable, and Debbie would plead with me to take a ride with her. So there I would be up on a horse, and I would be thinking why should this powerful and majestic animal listen to me? And invariably the horse – – though advertised as being tame – – would do whatever it wanted to do regardless of my instructions and pulling on the horse’s reigns.

If my horse wanted to smell the roses, we would be spending minutes by the roses. If the horse wanted to eat some wild berries or something else, it would be lunchtime on the range. Fortunately, one of the experienced trail guides would come over and mosey the horse along down the beaten trail.

I always seemed to be given a “horse of a different color” to ride. But if the truth be told, the problem wasn’t with the horse – – it was with the horse’s so-called rider.

I guess it was because of all of the above memories that I was recently attracted to a blog written by Kim Taylor Henry. Kim has recently authored a devotional called Making God Smile: Living the Fruit of the Spirit One Day at a Time.

Kim Taylor Henry

Kim was watching her grown daughter, Rachel, in a jumper riding competition. “There were 12 jumps in the course. They weren’t in a row, one after the other, but set out with twists, and turns in an order I wouldn’t be able to remember no matter how many times I tried, let alone stay on the horse jumping over them,” she said.

But if her daughter, Rachel, were to wind up off the course path, miss a jump, make jumps in the wrong order, or fall off, then she would be out of the competition. “No do-overs. No second chances,” she added.

Fortunately, Kim’s daughter both stayed “on course and on her horse. In fact, she won Grand Champion,” the proud mother reported. But many of the other riders were not so lucky. There were 16 competitors, and two of them went off the course. Also, another competitor fell off her horse. All three of the riders were out with no do-overs.

It got Kim to thinking. “My life is full of twists, turns, and jumps of sorts. I always try to follow God and stay on the path He has set before me. But I do go off course. I am not consistently loving, patient, self-controlled, or kind. I fall down in my efforts to be the person I want to be… But I am not out. I thank God that he does allow do-overs,” Kim explains.

Kim says that when she makes mistakes, she turns to Spirit knowing that she will be forgiven, and gently set back on the right path. Kim says, “Thank you, God, that with you there are do-overs. Thank you for Your grace, Your mercy, and Your loving kindness, which picks me up when I stumble or fall, and sets me back on course.”

It is really important that we remember that we were born blessed, and remain blessed. Nothing can change that. Our real essence is not our error thoughts — I.e., thoughts of lack, scarcity, fear, or not being enough.

Our real essence is the Christ inside of us. That is who we really are. And this is not heresy. The apostle Paul said this many years ago: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

So many of the other world’s great religions and spiritual paths are saying the same essential thing- but using different wording.

The Christ, Buddha nature, Krishna, The Perennial Philosophy, Your Higher Self, etc. all believe in do-overs. And they are all blessing you to ride beautiful horses of many different colors.

A flying Pegasus is waiting to take you to glory and back again.