In the spring of the year, the
time when kings go forth to
battle.” Samuel 11:1
Josephus tells us that at one time, when the first blades of grass emerged in the spring, men prepared for war. Adad levied and led forth his army against the Hebrews; Antiochus prepared to invade Judea; and Vespasioan marched to Antipatris, all with the coming of spring and the new grass.
“The Kings and armies of the East do not march but when there is grass, and when they can encamp, which is April. Chardin
These were the rules. From the first blade of grass, things were set in motion.
So it is on our little farm in the spring. Sheep rise against sheep in a game of testing and posturing for leadership of the barn. Back and forth, they enter and cross unseen boundaries. Horns clash, heads slam with dull thuds as echoes from the past. Yet before the first stomping of the foot; before the first lifting of the head; before the first focus of the eyes, there is a knowing inside all- who will win….it rises from within.
I remember the spring of 1973. I was graduating from school and preparing to leave for Newfoundland for my first job-a new adventure. We had all sat in front of our televisions that late spring watching “Watergate” unfold, eyes wide open, disbelieving. The Vietnam war continued and we wondered what it was all about. It was the beginning of a hot summer.
I also remember that everyone was talking about an amazing horse from Virginia who had gone forth and won the Kentucky Derby, next the Preakness Stakes, both in record time and everyone was waiting for his appearance at the Belmont Stakes, longing for him to emerge as the first triple crown winner in 25 years, longing for greatness. We were not to be disappointed. It was just a horse and one race but for 1 1/2 miles, we witnessed the same greatness that kings of old sought each spring. It was a display of such utter knowing …that this horse knew he was in the race of his life. It was his time to run.
Secretariat’s Triple Crown Part 2 The Belmont Stakes
As Christians, how do we measure greatness? Perhaps, it is when we know that we know that we know who we are and where we come from. It is God’s revelation to us. We do nothing to receive it. It is not an intellectual knowledge at all. We may not understand it but we know it in our hearts and see it in our spirits…and our hearts speak to us.
People around us and circumstances test us but we learn ‘being small’ is our greatest asset. We learn not to be anxious about the markers of time in our lives, as our lives will go on after today…this year… next year…into eternity. We learn, amid confusion , we can see clearer. We learn the vastness of one moment in time. We learn to breathe deeper. We learn to praise God for what we are and what we have. We have become new creatures. The old has passed away. We are those who abide in Christ.
Yet we struggle as we forget we are in Christ. Watchman Nee speaks of this struggle as the bewilderment of trying to get into a room in which you already are. “Think of the absurdity of asking to be put in!” Know that you have been made new. Know that you have unlimited potential. Know that you are His.
“Knowing this,” says Paul, “that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away so that we should no longer be in bondage to sin.” Rom. 6:3
Knowing this…our greatness will rise from within.
Secretariat –Running From Within (at Claiborne Farm, Virginia)…enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O57qMR45Y1o
The Immortal Secretariat (right click your mouse for hyperlink)….enjoy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl-IVl-UGE4
I promise…this is the last of my horse movies for a while.
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