As soon as apple harvest was done, we would construct a simple solar-powered electric wire fence within our orchard.
The fence was movable and capable of containing our four horses. So, once the fence was up, we'd lead the horses into it during the day. They happily roamed around, munching on fresh orchard grass and the apples that had fallen during picking time. The horses were in heaven. But oddly, they escaped one Sunday morning.
After church, we drove up the driveway through the apple orchard to the house, and noticed all the horses were gone. Believe me, it is easy to notice the absence of four horses, each weighing about 900 pounds.
Now, our orchard was close to suburbia, where houses sat side-by-side, children walked up and down the streets, and cars drifted from home to town. It was a bit disconcerting to picture four horses carousing around the neighborhood under their own instincts with no guidance. Searching my mind for direction, I thought of this verse from Colossians, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (NIV)
While at church, I had devoted myself to prayer _ well, OK, minus the time I spent mentally studying all I needed to get done in the upcoming week. But, devoting myself to prayer is something I try to do regularly, even when walking around the neighborhood looking for horses.
Prayer is more than pleading God to do something. God's work is done and it is good. I also didn't make up a wordy prayer. On that Sunday, I pulled on my boots and started looking for horses with a prayerful attitude and watchfulness.
Spiritual leader Mary Baker Eddy wrote in her book Science and Health, "Desire is prayer."
I can trust my desires to God to tweak and iron them out so they have a good motive. My desire to find the horses expanded to a desire for safety for the neighbors and the animals. And, I watched, thankfulness crept in on my thoughts.
To be thankful is not to be angry with the horses or myself. I had to stop being appalled over the fact that the horses would leave their well-accommodated abode. I had to stop asking, what on earth possessed them to run the fence and leave their food and water? I had to stop over- worrying about how dangerous it can be in the world.
Although it seemed abstract, I was thankful to God for being a constant source of wisdom and safety. I acknowledged God as all-presence, therefore I could be thankful for the all-presence of a guiding consciousness. God is speaking to all the creatures on and off the farm. Little did I know, this exercise prepared me for when our children were older and moving out on their own.
But, while looking for our horses, we soon came upon a couple who were also looking for us.
"Hey, did you lose four horses?" they asked.
"Yes," we answered with brightened faces.
"Well, they are in our backyard," said the neighbors.
Sure enough, my thankfulness blossomed into full bloom as I saw how that couple had sacrificed their backyard to four large animals, pacing around nervously, leaving deep hoof marks in the lawn and mounds of un-scattered manure plops all over. The couple was so happy to find their owners, they refused our offer to clean up the mess.
Not only did we get the four horses back home but I was forever impressed with true neighborliness.
Prayerfulness teaches us to watch, and the watchfulness keeps us in a state of thankfulness where even strangers are neighbors and safety is intact.
Cheryl Petersen is the author of '21st Century Science and Health.' She is a freelance religion writer with emphasis on Christian Science. she lives in Delhi.
Columns
Prayer, thankfulness and lost horses
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
-
-
Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
I saw in the news last week that Disney theme parks are raising admission prices to almost $100 a person. Children (who Uncle Walt considers 10 and under) are now $86 a day.
Continued ... - Getting creative with gifts for grads
- Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
-
Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
So what does the 1960s game show ``What's My Line'' got to do with the Bloomsday festivities occurring in Dublin, Ireland, this week? Surprisingly, there is a link.
Continued ... - Envisioning a world without terror
- We've become our own worst enemies
- Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
-
Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
- Lisa Miller
-
-
A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
-
- Mark Simonson
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Don't play around with snappers
The other day, I was driving along Route 205 between Mount Vision and Hartwick. Suddenly, I had to swerve out of my lane to miss a huge snapping turtle. It was crossing from a large swamp on the left to some higher ground on the other side of the road.
- Emmons Pond Bog is pretty easy to enjoy
- Fishing has gotten a lot more complex
- Waterfalls are even better when you keep them to yourself
- Kids have sparkle in their eyes
-
Don't play around with snappers
- Sam Pollak
-
-
Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
"If this had happened while a Republican was president, the liberal media would be screaming."
Continued ... - THIS WEEK'S POLL
- Using time off in the worst way possible
- Terror lives on, and there's no end in sight
- Remembering the glory of their times
-
Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
- William Masters
-
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
-
Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
-
Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
-
Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
