God and Horses

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was put down Monday after complications from his gruesome breakdown at last year's Preakness, ending an eight-month ordeal that prompted an outpouring of support across the country.

As the newscast came forth one news person remarked that the horse had changed people’s lives. "This horse was a hero," said David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. When Barbaro broke down, his right hind leg flared out awkwardly as jockey Edgar Prado jumped off and tried to steady the ailing horse. Race fans at Pimlico wept. Within 24 hours the entire nation seemed to be caught up in a "Barbaro watch," waiting for any news.

Don’t get me wrong – I love animals. But it seems to me that we have a weird and inconsistent value system in America. Let me explain.

First, God is the only one that can change lives. He uses others and maybe even animals. But the problem is that we end up worshipping the thing and not God.

Second, we have a distorted value of animals. I understand that if you kill an eagle or even an unborn eagle that you have committed a crime. But in our country you can kill the unborn child and everything is okay. Am I the only one that sees the absurdity in that?

God gave us animals to love, but not be our companions. God gave us each other for that. Horses may be neat, but they aren’t heroes. Heroes are the people of faith (Hebrews 11). Feed your dog. Keep your cat warm, but love people and God. That is good!

Sid

Obituaries

My mother has a unique given name. She is named for my grandfather with a twist to make it feminine. Her name is Ernestine. You see, it is quite unique. You would think with this name that identity confusion would be the last thing she would have to worry about. Well, it is not. For years there has been a lady that lived in a community several miles away that not only had my mom’s given name, but also her married name. They apparently used the same doctor and have had mail sent to the wrong Ernestine. This has created some confusion and inconvenience over the years.

Well, Ernestine Dye passed away. Not my mother, but the other one. Her name showed up in the obituaries and on the nearby radio station. Some calls were made from acquaintances that knew my mom and wanted to know what had happened to her.
My mom emailed her boys to assure us that she was still kicking. This of course, pleased us. But this got me thinking – what if my name was in the obituaries? What would it say? What kind of legacy would I have left?

A lesson for me that God impresses on all in Scripture – be prepared. Eternity is only a breath away or a lack of. Be friendly. Serve God. Forgive. Repent. Think of others first. This will leave a legacy that God will be proud of.

Sid

Let's Hide

Over the holidays I was able to be with my grandson Mason. He is 2 1/2 years old. He definitely takes after my side of the family - could be good or bad depending on your point of view. During our stay at my parents, Mason wanted to hide in the closet. Apparently that is something that he does at home. So he had taken his grandmother (Kathy) and they both had hid. But now he wanted me to play.

We got in the closet. We were quiet as to not let anyone know where we were. We were hiding, or at least that is what I thought we were doing. When someone walked in the room he would announce that we were hiding. No prompting! No coaching! He just let everyone within ear shot know what we were doing.

At that point I thought that it was cute. You hide but when someone gets close, then you let them know you are hiding from them. Isn't the purpose of hiding to hide? But as I thought about what he was doing, I wondered about myself.

I wonder what God thinks of us. We are suppose to be doing a lot of things and we simply miss the point. We are to serve, love, assist, be kind, sacrifice, give and be humble. But we end up tooting our own horn even in these godly acts and end up missing the point.

We just need to do what God says, the way he says do it and he will be proud.

Sid