God This Week

On the way to eye therapy, Sweet Boy#2 and I were listening to The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis and I came across this passage.

“…I suppose you know how to ride?”

“Oh yes, of course,” said Shasta. “At least, I’ve ridden the donkey.”

“Ridden the what?” retorted the horse with extreme contempt…”In other words,” it continued, “you can’t ride. That’s a drawback. I’ll have to teach you as we go along. If you can’t ride, can you fall?”

“I suppose anyone can fall,” said Shasta.

“I mean can you fall and get up again without crying and mount again and fall again and yet not be afraid of falling?”

“I–I’ll try,” said Shasta.”

C.S. Lewis always amazes me. He takes some simple bit of story and packs so much into it. So much about us and life and God all mixed up into an offhand conversation between a horse and his boy.

Looking back, it is easy to wonder why God even bothered with us. But I can see our Lord nodding as we both look at all of the mistakes and then He puts His arm around me and says: “But child, you knew how to fall and I can always do something with that.”

Maybe you or I don’t know how we are going to accomplish something. How can I make it through collage? How can I change careers at my age? How on earth am I going to be a good parent? How am I going to care for my aging parents? How can I move? How can I stay? How can I clean my fridge after the thawing turnkey leaked all over everything, when I have to make Thanksgiving supper for 14 and run out side and see why the chickens are clucking in alarm?

Maybe we can’t do those things. But can we fall? Can we fall and get back up and fall again and get back up and not be terrified of falling? If you know how to fall, take heart. Just as Bree was able to teach Shasta how to ride, God can do a whole lot with a man or woman who knows how to fall.