August 28, 2020

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Today we look at the “verse” of the Rider’s Prayer, For this love you have given me graces my existence.  I shall cherish it and praise you for it for all the time. 

 

Those two simple sentences, with simple words like grace, cherish and praise for all time.  Words that we sometimes just read and glance over, but if we take a moment. Pause and think about those simple words.  God has graced me with a special love of horses, they have helped to shape who and what I am today.  If I loved the cello, I would be a different person than I am.

·         What love do you have that God has graced your existence with?

·         What has helped to shape and mold you into the person you are today?

·          

Those other words “Cherish and Praise you for it for all time”.  The love and gift I have with horses is something that is God-given.  I have honed it and shaped it, but without God’s grace I would not have that gift.  I thank God every day that I have the joy horses bring to my life.  That I can share the talents I have with others to make their day brighter when they are around horses. 

 

I am ever thankful for God’s grace and think of Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourself, it is a gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one may boast.”

Dearest God in Heaven,

Give me strength to guide my horse. Make my hands soft & my head clear. Let my horse understand me & I him. My heart you have blessed with a special love of these animals, let me never lose sight of it.

 My soul you have gifted with a deep need for them, let that need never lessen. As the sun gleams on elegant head, always may my throat tighten at the sound of gentle nicker.

 Let the scent of fresh hay & new bag of grain always be sweet to me. Let the touch of a warm nose on my hand always bring a smile.

 The grace & splendor of a running horse, the thunder of its hooves makes my eyes burn & my heart soars – let it always be so. 

Dearest God, grant me patience, for horses are harnessed wind and wind can be flighty. Let me not frighten or harm them, instead show me ways to understand them. 

Above all, dear God, fill my life with them. I am not whole without them. When I pass from this world, send my soul to no heaven without them.

For this love you have given me graces my existence.  I shall cherish it and praise you for it for all the time.

Amen.

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