High Horses and Other Modes of Transport

Proverbs 16:18 (New International Version) 18 Pride goes before destruction,a haughty spirit before a fall. My eyes fluttered open as the grey light of dawn filtered into my room. Stretching in the warm cocoon of my bed, I reached into the crispy cold air of my bedroom with my outstretched arms. Something important was tugging at my sleepy brain, and slowly I remembered; I had an adventure planned for this morning!

 As quietly as I could, I slipped from between the covers. Shivering and teeth chattering, I quickly dressed and padded downstairs, careful not to wake my sleeping parents and brother. My parents certainly wouldn't have understood my mission -- and my brother, three years younger, would have wanted to tag along.

 Leaving the still silent house with a couple of apples in my pocket, I stepped out into a world already alive with chirping, twittering bird-song and began to run through the frosty grass towards the meadow. There she stood, my friend Merrylegs; and at my approach, she walked towards the fence, the breath from her nostrils hanging in the cold air. Her warm velvety nose nuzzled into my outstretched hand, her lips feeling for the juicy apple to munch. I climbed over the fence and jumped to the ground, landing with a thud. My aim was to ride Merrylegs, but I'd never ridden a horse, and all of a sudden, standing right beside her, I realized how high she stood. After a few valiant attempts to jump on, which she patiently tolerated, I realized that my fantasy of galloping around the field would be unfulfilled, that day at least!

 This was my first encounter with a "high horse," but not my last. Every now and then it seems, a "high horse" gallops into view and unlike my experience with Merrylegs, it is all too easy to climb upon them. It's not a trait I like and I'm learning to dismount as soon as I realize I'm up there. It's a height I'd rather not fall from. I think about Jesus, who chose a very different mode of transport. A king who rode a donkey-- a beast that speaks of humility. How different from my "high horse" that speaks of self and pride.

 Dear Lord, please help me, when I feel the "high horse" trotting into my vicinity, to look around for the donkey. Please transform me, help me to choose the path of gentleness and humility. Zechariah 9:9 (New International Version The Coming of Zion's King 9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (September 29, 2006)

Comments

Dave Hingsburger said…
Hmmmm, it if weren't for high horses, I'd have to find a dudgeon and climb on it ...
6:32 AM
Angcat said…
I love your story Belinda.
And the scripture is a perfect image of contrasts...speaking of the King..."righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey..."
He is both and all those things.
He is righteous and perfect, bearing (what a word that means so much more than carrying) our salvation. But also gentle and humble.
Teach us King Jesus of Your character.
8:07 AM
Marilyn said…
Possibly....just possibly...I've been on a high horse of late, but.... I'm not sure I'm ready to get off. :-)

I'm going to think about it, though. I appreciate the nudge about it.
7:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the ...
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c...
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more