Riding Down

Fear calls us back to basics...

The message from the pulpit was about David and Goliath, the presence of fear in our lives, how Satan loves to see that fear paralyze us and draw us away from God, and how the answer to fear is to reach back down for the basics.

Those of you who have followed me for a while know that fear has been a constant companion and huge struggle for me these past years when it comes to my horsemanship. A bit funny, how I almost immediately had an opportunity to put this into practice.

You see, I've made old steady Gray a bit buddy sour. Probably because I was buddy sour. This isn't a problem my husband can fix, for he doesn't do this for my husband. Only me. It's the way my anxiety feeds into his. Horses are that way, you know. Mirrors, who will feed us back the best of ourselves, often tenfold, and who do the same with the worst of us.

When I was in middle school, I read a book called The God of Animals. It was not my usual high fantasy or romantic fare, but I suppose I related deeply to a young girl, watching her family who make a living in the industry of animals try to get by in the face of struggle and drought and uncertainty. The story culminates with the young protagonist having to make a somewhat harrowing performance on an arena horse. Some cowboy gives her advice, something along the lines of "stuff that fear down deep in your belly and just ride."

I recalled yesterday, when Gray and I were getting a little het up, this book, and this advice, and how much I lived by it in my youth. You see, I was never a bold and daring rider. My mom posited how brave I was, but really I was just quite appropriately confident, and when I wasn't certain, I generally opted out. I didn't do much on horses that scared me or pushed me out of my comfort zone. But I did learn to stuff that fear down, down, down.

I recalled the feeling, and yesterday, thought about fear calling us back to basics, and put words to that feeling I utilized so often as a kid. I thought about riding down.

Pushing the fear down into something small in my belly, pushing my seat down into the saddle, and my feet down into the stirrups. Taking a deep seat is one of the most basic concepts of horsemanship.

Ah.

Fear takes us back to basics. Take a deep seat and enjoy the ride, friends.

It wasn't a magic fix. We still got a little wound up, but it was more manageable. And eventually I was able to shift my thinking enough to say "no thank you friend. Quit leaning on my leg and pick your shoulder up." And Gray said "oh, like this? Well that's alright, then." I quit thinking about going to war with him and started thinking about the smaller foundational building blocks that make good horses good horses.

Whatever it is that’s making you fearful, going back to basics is always a help. The basics of your craft or skill, and the basics of salvation, that you are the child of Almighty God, that He is for you and not against you, working all things for your good, and sovereign over every circumstance of your life. These basics are the foundation on which we build our lives, and where we can lean when the going gets difficult, or life gets scary.

Reach back for those basics and ride down.