RIDING REALITY

One of the reasons I write a blog is to "play" around with thoughts and ideas turning them into sermon illustrations, meditations and counseling stories. They do not always get "fleshed out" completely, but you get to see some of the raw material. Remember "LIFE IS A RODEO?" I told you a little about the time I rode a bare-back bronco in the rodeo. This is a continuation of that.

Everybody has to be a cowboy because we each have to ride "Reality," the bronco that cannot be broken. There are times when it seems to be a beautiful and gentle horse, but in a flash it can turn into a raging, kicking, twisting, turning, bucking beast that will put down the best of riders. I remember that first Frontier-Days rodeo, the cowboy that rode just ahead of me was a seasoned veteran rider. When the gate opened on the chute, the horse lunged out of the chute, bucked high in the air and twisted. That cowboy was down on the first buck. Naturally athletic, and humble, and having ridden many horses, I had been confident, but after seeing what that bronc did to the previous rider, I wondered how I would ride "Reality," the horse that I had drawn. For a moment I thought about backing out, but too-late, my name was called. I climbed over the top of the chute, gripping the rigging with my right hand, the left hand had to be in the air and I had to "spur" with my heels. The gate opened and Reality lunged out of the chute, bucking high and hard, hard enough to tear the skin out of the palm of my right hand. I spurred, holding my left-hand free. The buzzer sounded, the pick-up man yelled, "Tom, I'm here," but I could not see him because the horse was bucking so hard that my vision was just a blurr. So I just jumped off. My time on Reality was just about 8 seconds--in real reality, it is a life-time.

So what does this have to do with life? See you tomorrow.

Grace&Peace;
Tom