It’s almost Christmas, and a pony is not on my list.
I am an equine ignoramus. Every horse I’ve ridden, no doubt sensing my fear of it, has gone alpha and tried to rub me off on a fence, or nip my knee.
So I watch horses from afar. To me, this pose looks like devotion. Are they in love?
A primer on horse body language tells me the darker one is likely relaxed, or bored, or perhaps standing guard as its companion sleeps.
I admire their seeming contentment. And that watchful eye. The line of that black mane gracing the neck’s strong curve.
What’s my line?
As an experiment, I try to distill God’s thoughts toward me into a single visual line. Which type of line would you choose? And why? (Leave a comment below if you’re inclined. I’d love to read it.)
- Some would say plumb line
- Others (tongue-in-cheek), the erratic thunderbolt
- A circle might come up, or . . .
I vote for the gradual arc, ever-bending our way, the divine parental arm enfolding us in love.
These horses (who would normally unnerve me) now help me glimpse the graceful, focused tenderness that brought Christ earthward.
In love, he came
In this fa-la-la season—part holy, part hype, part dread over escalating explosions, shootings, and rogue weather—we remember ultimate devotion.
We remember that Jesus took on fragile skin, a finite body. He too battled a mortal mind prone to desolation, deceit, fear and meanness.
With his life, death, and resurrection, perfect love overcame fear’s dominion.
This love still bends toward us, ready to move in and through us, ready to reconcile our wild-oats-sowing souls with God.
It’s a love that mobilizes us to tend each other, and our out-of-whack climates across the globe.
To take a stand against injustice, and rampant wickedness poised to hijack hope, and peace, all our highest aims and actions.
Love bends toward us now, a matchless arc (or is it an ark?) in the surging darkness . . .
How will we respond?
Maybe it’s time to fall in love afresh with the One who said: “I will give you the treasures of darkness . . . so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name” (Is. 45:3 NIV).
No matter how dark and dire these times, treasures abound amid the terrors.
In Christ, the high-kicking joy of the foal can be ours again. Our minds were fashioned for many things—among them, mirth and mercy and inspiration.
As if to confirm this, “Deck the Halls“ says, Follow me in merry measure . . . while I tell of Yuletide treasure.*
Which sets me wondering: Maybe the songwriter, half-sloshed and trying to sing away the chaos of perilous times, stuttered on the word “follow” . . . and produced fa-la-la—which was more fun to sing. And then it stuck.
Give a listen to this instrumental version (2:00), and whether it’s the first time for you, or a renewal of your connection to God, ponder what it might look like to fall in love again with life and its Giver.
*”Deck the Halls,” Traditional, Public Domain, arranged and performed by Bill Klein, acoustic guitar
MAKING IT PERSONAL: What line shape reminds you of God today? And why? Please share! Your line shape may be the one that acts as a visual trigger in our lives to remember God, whenever we see it . . .
Laurie bless you! Thank you fo reminding me about Isaiah’s treasures in the darkness – and the connection you make with Yuletide treasures is so playful – and perfectly plucked and played by Bill. Great stuff. Really!
My line – God will always be a spiral for me … Spiralling endlessly into unknown places of dark and light (No energy to write why but I know you know a little of what I speak…)
Thank you. All blessings
Kate, you are so welcome. Thank you for your encouragement! Your words about the spiral and its ongoing work (play?) in our lives (and all created life) resonate deeply with me today. Blessings on you this holy week in your life. I am so grateful to be connected with you!!
No “line” is coming to mind that reminds me of God today–there’s too much fog from a head cold. But enough brain cells are firing to help me catch your insightful take on that line from “Deck the Halls.” ‘Love it! And I want to explore further Isaiah 45:3, about the “treasures of darkness.” Thank you, Laurie, for a delightful post, encouraging us to nestle close to our Father.
Nancy, I hope your feel better soon. Sounds like a bad one. The Isaiah passage has long been a verse I treasure. Let me know what you discover as you explore it further, will you? And thanks for your encouraging words. They mean a lot!
Ah, Laurie, Once again, your writing sent my mind galloping into lush green meadows. I shared it with dear hubby, and we listened to your husband’s sublime acoustical rendition as we watched the snow falling all around us. I don’t imagine a thin line with hard edges; I think more in translucent, golden, radiant, soft-edged effervescence, tinged with sparkles of prisms, like a “line” of snow falling from evergreen branches as they release their snow loads in sunlight, all the miniscule particles, kissing me, swirling around me, captivating and delighting me, (sometimes chastising with a frozen handful of sharp crystals down the neck), ultimately penetrating into the depths of my soul.
Pacia, I am captivated by your “line” and its lovely light and movement. I can picture and almost taste that moment the bough releases its mantle of snow. (and hear it!) Voila! Release! I’m going to be watching for moments like this in the future, and use them to trigger prayer. Thank you for sharing this!
What a wonderful & comforting image: His divine arms ever bending our way, enfolding us.
My husband and I tell each other almost every night that we are enclosed behind and before by our LORD. So, in light of that, maybe my “shape” is a circle.
Carol, what a tender picture your words create in my mind: the circle you two draw around yourselves, in God, with your loving words enclosing you two “behind and before.” Sounds like the perfect send-off to deep, restorative rest. Thank you for sharing this!
Laurie, you have such a beautiful way with words….
What line comes to mind? A plumb line, always a plumb line…God’s, held in His hand, straight and true, the reference point for all my wandering and the world’s ways….I come back to Him and His word.
My poem about said line….
http://www.wordfacets.blogspot.com/2015/04/plumbline.html
Such a beautiful line in its simultaneous depth and simplicity. I’m headed over to read your poem now . . . thanks for including the link! Back again. How marvelous to make the plumb line a musical string (I picture guitar because that’s what I play). It sets up all kinds of resonance in me as I read your lines.
I think I visualize a triangle (trinity) but with the graceful curves of a conductor beating waltz time. Waltz time can also be conducted in a circle, so we are closer than you think!
Kathy, this is a wonderful line picture that gets my imagination going and sets up a kinesthetic response in me too. Thank you for sharing!