Out Our Way: Back in the saddle again

Out our way, folks that ride know it's not a question of if they will be tossed and hurt, but when. As gentle as Doc is, he has a hitch in his giddyap that flares up and he bucks at unexpected times when that sore hip of his zaps him. He also tends to stumble over his own feet and trips - and he has never gotten his leads right. All of which has lead me more than once to be "launched" and tossed to earth. Cactus, rocks and just hard-packed soil have all taken their toll. More than once I have been in for X-rays and diagnosed with badly sprained ribs.

But as any rider knows, when you take that spill, the most important thing is to get back up and climb into the saddle again lest fear dominate you. Horses smell that fear and will loose confidence in you as the alpha of the herd and start to get nervous, anxious and more likely to be unpredictable. So while I was in great pain from being tossed, I forced myself to "cowboy up" and crawl over to Doc, grab a stirrup, and pull myself up, then mount up and get back in the saddle.

In life, as in riding, it is not a question of if you will get hurt, stomped or knocked about, but when. And the next question is, what are you going to do about it? I had a friend in Wyoming who was badly hurt at a rodeo and it took him a long time to get himself to where he could even consider riding again. But he was a gutsy kid and although the fear and the pain were real, he decided not to quit. Every day he saddled up and took his horse out into the wide open and forced himself to ride. He admitted he as anxious, nervous - oh, he was flat scared! But he refused to quit. And one day, a few weeks later, his mom was in the kitchen doing dishes at the ranch house and heard this wild "Wah Hoo!" She went out and there was her boy, riding full tilt across the sandhills waving his hat and shouting his joy at having worked through is fear and was back in the saddle for real and always.

He knew he could do it, even though for a time his faith was small. But he trusted his faith, even as small as it was, and it began to grow. And in time, that faith ceased to just be hope but belief, for he no longer just ceased to believe, but to experience and believe. It was not just his courage that got him in the saddle again, it was the fact he became a rider and the saddle was home.

The disciples understood fear and when the great storm threatened to sink them in the Sea of Galilee, Jesus told them to not be afraid but believe. A hard thing to do until their faith became sight. At the word of Christ, the wind stopped and the sea became calm. Even then they had doubts, but they had begun to trust in God and expect God to care. They began to "cowboy up" in their faith. And they were not disappointed, as we recall what many of us celebrated on April 1st - and, no, it was not April Fool's day except for those who dismissed what the day was really celebrating.

Point being, we all get tossed in this life. We all end up eating dust along the way, and most of us also end up pretty banged up. That is part of life and unless you limit your riding to the merry go round at the fair, you will get tossed now and then. But you will never ride or know the thrill of the full gallop when you and the pony are one. And trying to avoid all risks and hurts in life will never allow you to really live.

The Hebrew word "shalom" is usually translated as "peace" - but that is too limited. The word also means "wholeness, completeness, fulfillment." Jesus calls for us to know shalom in God's love. Sometimes you can't be complete or whole without risk. And if you are tossed and stomped, trust God will help you get back up and - bruised sprained, and badly shaken up as you are - help you get back in the saddle. For shalom does not only refer to wholeness and fulfillment, but also health and healing. You will be healed and strengthened as you trust God and get back in the saddle.

Yup, you are reading the words of a man who has been tossed, stomped, busted up and crushed in life as well as on horseback. And I am not yet healed or whole - but I am no longer lying on the ground. Following the example of many other folks you and I both know who have done it, I am getting back on my feet and stumbling forward to get back in the saddle again. They did it, I will do it and when you have to do so, you will do it, too.

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John Bruington, former pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Havre, along with Doc, hope to keep encouraging others to find hope in the Gospel of Horse Sense Theology.