Horse Power

I was visiting the stable on a brisk autumn day. Cool breezes whipped up from the lower lying pastures telling tales of the coming winter. I waited outside until the animal’s huge head emerged from the stall and startled me. He exhaled and sounded more like a locomotive than a horse.

His owner led him to the open field, released him and tapped his hind quarters. His enormous nostrils expanded as he sucked in a large breath of that cool afternoon freedom. He tipped his head to the wind and took off. His weight shook the earth and even from a distance I felt the vibrations of each giant hoof landing. I was stunned by this beast’s awesome power. Moreover, watching him enjoy himself made me feel happy.

He didn’t have to think about his gait or deliberately try to impress me. He simply moved according to his design. That too familiar field could have been boring and mundane to him, but he still found wonder there. Picking up speed as he descended the hill, he seemed immersed in the simple joy of being himself. He arched his neck and silky feathering flowed in the wind at his mane and from his hocks down to his enormous hooves. I could not take my eyes off him. How could something so large move with such grace?

The people who have impressed me and inspired me most are like that Clydesdale stallion. It’s not so much what they do, but how they do it that makes me marvel. Without fanfare of introduction and deliberate attention getting, they go about their lives willingly and joyfully. Even in the mundane things they do, they find simple joy as children of God. This creates a kind of thunder that shakes people they meet. It’s not that miracles are happening wherever they go, but their harmony in being what God called them to be impacts their world with a unique joy.

The horse’s offering, his worship, is moving with power and grace. God gives me work each day. He gives me the ability to accomplish each assignment. I want to approach even the mundane in such a way that it becomes my offering, my worship, my prayer. Clydesdales were made for working and they do it with beauty that takes my breath away. Can I cut vegetables with the same attitude that horse had as he enjoyed his pasture? Won’t God delight in me just as he delights in the horse if I simply enjoy doing each task set before me? Maybe gratitude is the key.

In daily tasks my heart is woven with God’s if I’m listening and if my thoughts are inclined to him. People I admire do this all the time. Grace is my husband rising at 4AM six days a week without complaining; work and the ability to do it are gifts from heaven. Worship is that guy at church who gets there two hours early every Sunday to set up chairs; then he greets everyone at the door smiling. It’s the student preparing himself for life’s assignments, doing his best for the Lord. Love is my mom compassionately making chicken soup whenever anyone gets sick. Power, like that stallion waiting in the stall, is my friend craving another trip to Honduras where he generously shares the Lord’s liberty.

Worship, prayer, and offerings can be outpourings of daily life, not only events taking place during church services. Prayer can be recognizing the Lord’s bounty while preparing a meal. Worship is accepting difficult jobs with a willing heart when it would be easier to refuse.

Recently I realized I could experience more joy by entering the field of worship. There, an inner shift allows me to work with God even when I’m doing every day activities. The Spirit gallops in the wind with me. Although my wide open field is simply my office, my kitchen, or the grocery store, these places are transformed by deliberate thought. I want to enter that field more often. It's where the cool wind is blowing.