Chapel 26.03.2012
The horse is dead.
Please don’t misunderstand me; I like horses ever since I was young. I even did gymnastics and dancing on them. But today I want to talk about an old Indian saying which states:
When your horse is dead, it’s time to climb off.
Apparently that is a good advice and of course I would not quote it, if I would not like the deeper meaning hiding behind this very pragmatic counsel. I am always astonished, that already the old aboriginal peoples thought about deep philosophical and psychological topics and came to remarkably wise insights. This little saying proofs that they dedicated considerable thought to the topic of letting go, of leaving behind, of change and progress.
If your old, rickety horse is dead, find a new one – go ahead.
A horse is a practical animal, by the way not like a hypocritical cat, which only turns to you when she is hungry or wants to be fondled. A horse can carry you, it is a living help; it gets you further, where ever you have decided to go. But if it is not able to carry you any longer it is not really recommendable to keep on riding it. In German you can say “Reite doch nicht noch weiter darauf rum!” - in this saying the Horseback riding serves as a metaphor for preventing someone from keeping on and on about a certain topic or maybe conflict, that is no longer interesting or noteworthy.
Isaiah could have used this metaphor too, but he said it in his one words:
I’m reading from chapter 43, verses 18 - 21.
18 "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.
21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
(Isa 43:18-21 NKJ)
It is an open call to leave behind all the old grievances and annoyances and at the same time, as Isaiah is highly critical about the sins and wrongdoings of the people of Israel, it is an open call to leave behind old loyalties and dependencies, that did not proof to be sufficient and that did not provide any further help. He calls the people of Israel to jump off the horses and donkeys that collapsed under their weight – horses and donkeys who named themselves Baal, Nebo, Molech, Ashera, Astarte, Dagon, moon gods, idols, graven images, and whatever else they may be called. Now it is time to get a new horse, a stable, reliable and devoted horse – namely Yahweh who is carrying them on the way through the desert and brings them to rivers in the desert.
So what is your current horse or donkey which is carrying you? Is it still strong and reliable? Do you feel that it is carrying you further on your way or should you jump off and get a new one?
In our lives we rely on many things. Actually we have to, since we are not able to be professionals in everything. We have to rely on the work of manual workers, of our hairdresser, on the work of the pilot, on the work of the police, the politicians etc. In some fields we can choose on whom we want to lay our trust – in some we just have to be faithful without any further inquiring. The fact that there are departments in life where we cannot choose, who is carrying our fate and future in his hands, makes it even more necessary for us to make thoughtful decisions in those areas, where we can choose. Which insurance company seems to be appropriate for my needs? Who are our real friends, we can rely on? What is it, that I dedicate my heart to, what carries me through hard times and sufferings as well as times of joy and gratefulness?
“What you attach your heart to, this is your God”.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mt 6,21)
These are the Lutheran and the Matthean versions of the Indian saying about what we should let go and leave behind in life, and what we should rely on.
All these considerations and decisions require a high level of self-reflection and coming to oneself. In my Old Testament studies I stumbled over Paul Ricoeur’s theory about the moving from a pre-critical, through a critical, to a post-critical status and while I was thinking of self-reflections and the aims and gains of it, I found his theory somehow applicable. Please be a bit patient and allow this little excurs to Old Testament hermeneutics. Ricouer invents the thought of a so-called “first naiveté” meaning the approach to the OT text, as if it would be the direct word of God. It is highly unreflective and uncritical, and he calls this attitude “flat innocence”. What is written is true, and it is given from God.
The “second naiveté” then is to apply all the critical moves and means on the text, the historical-critical method and the literary criticism and all this stuff we heard about in our Old Testament introductory courses. What is then left is the text in many fragments, without meaning, without relevance, only pieces of a puzzle, lying on the ground in a big tohuwawohu.
So what is most important to Ricouer is to get rid of this “second naiveté” in order to enter the post-critical stage. A stage where we finally find out, what this text wants to tell us, what is being offered and what it means for our live – a status, where we finally finish the puzzle and face a complete, coherent picture.
Now I will immediately tell you why I drifted off so far from the initial topic: I think what we should go through in our lives are exactly these three statuses, concerning our image of ourselves and our reliance and loyalties. First we think we are great, we are God- given, his creatures without faults and contradictions. We think we are perfect as we are. I for example dwelled in this status when I went through my puberty, I think. I was so convinced of my coolness and rebelled against any critical remarks coming from my parents or anyone else around me. Some people remain in this status their whole life. Not that they are only failing to reflect about themselves; their standing in life and their abilities and disabilities. They are actually not concerned with anything, they don’t want to think about politics, about what is going on and going wrong in the world. They just remain in their little illusionary and restricted bubble. Many times I think it must be very enjoyable and easy to live in this bubble – you don’t have to face problems, everything is like in this movie town called pleasant ville.
But I’m deeply convinced that this is not the status where we are supposed to end up. We have to take the step to be critical - questioning basically everything in life and after doing that we sometimes feel as if we are facing a huge pile of fragments, which we are not able to clean up. The second naiveté. But – and that is probably the most important and also most difficult agenda in our lives – we have to take the step towards the post-critical status of our own self-reflection and world-reflection - a status, where we are able to reconcile with all the bad things in life that simply happen and at the same time with all the inabilities and faults we have to discover in our own personality. Taking this step we slowly find our standing in the world, our task and our importance and during this move we have to decide what we can leave behind and what we want to carry us further on. In the end – hopefully – we will stand in front of a completed puzzle, where every fragment serves the whole and makes obvious a coherent, beautiful and meaningful picture of ourselves and the world around us.
NKJ Psalm 31:1-8
In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be ashamed; Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 Bow down Your ear to me, Deliver me speedily; Be my rock of refuge, A fortress of defense to save me.
3 For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name's sake, Lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I have hated those who regard useless idols; But I trust in the LORD.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,
8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.
Morning Prayer called Pir by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Inspirer of my mind, consoler of my heart,
healer of my spirit,
Thy presence lifteth me from earth to heaven,
Thy words flow as the sacred river,
Thy thought riseth as a divine spring,
Thy tender feelings waken sympathy in my heart.
Beloved Teacher, Thy very being is forgiveness.
The clouds of doubt and fear
are scattered by Thy piercing glance.
All ignorance vanishes in Thy illuminating presence.
A new hope is born in my heart
by breathing Thy peaceful atmosphere.
O inspiring Guide through life's puzzling ways,
in Thee I feel abundance of blessing.
Amen.