More Irish Proverb Musings
Jan. 30th, 2004 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mniand a wee GIP. The other day, I got the urge to write a song based on the Irish Proverb "Whovever brings on story to you will take two stories from you," and I'm still working on that. However, in mucking about my list of .wav files trying to find that one, I came upon another, which has stuck in my head like a catchy advert jingle for days: "The grace of God is found between the saddle and the ground." -- in other words, you'll find divine grace when you climb up on that horse and risk falling off.
This pretty much sums up my feelings about the road trip to Gallifrey, which is coming up in 8 days. First of all, this is the first time in my life that I've taken a trip independently of my blood family, and the first time I've taken this long a trip, in terms of sheer duration.
I've flown from coast to coast before, but done that way, the trip only takes a few hours. However, even in the best of times, before the added hassle of increased airport security, and when I was still small enough to be flung over a shoulder like a sac of potatos, it took a minimun of two other helpers to get me through the airport system, and that option is just not available to me this time.
So, instead of five hours in transit each way, the trip will involve five days in transit ... in a new van, which hasn't arrived yet, and with someone who, although I like her well enough, I haven't spent more than an hour or two in her company at a time (and that's a rarity -- usually, it's a few minutes of casual contact every three days or so). My biggest fear is that our casual friendship won't last the 120 hours (or 7,200 minutes) of non-stop togetherness.
And right now, she's the one person I depend on most to help me in my daily life...
(you got the "zero G" feeling in the pit of your stomach, yet? I do...)
It's almost enough prompt one to go to bed and pull the covers up over one's head...
And yet: "The grace of God is found between the saddle and the ground."
Not just in risking the fall, but the falling itself -- going up against your limits, and then going beyond them. So you fail, and you fall. But in that split second between leaving the saddle and hitting the ground, you can find the grace of God.
And whatever happens after that, your life will be just that much wider and grander for the experience.
And that's what has me excited about going to this Gallifrey One convention -- not the chance to meet "stars," or attend events, but the going itself, the expansion of my horizens (and, of course, the chance to really hug my friends, instead of just typing *hug*).
In a real way, I see this trip as a major crossroads. I either go, and potentially change the direction and scope of my life, or I don't, and my life stays the same as it is now until I die. They didn't quite catch that aspect of sci-fi conventions in "Galaxy Quest"...
---
Oh. And there is another way to look at that proverb: One thing that is also "between the saddle and the ground" is the horse. And as far as I'm concerned, the horse is an embodiment of divine grace.
Anyway, the proverb inspired me to come up with this icon. I hope you like...
This pretty much sums up my feelings about the road trip to Gallifrey, which is coming up in 8 days. First of all, this is the first time in my life that I've taken a trip independently of my blood family, and the first time I've taken this long a trip, in terms of sheer duration.
I've flown from coast to coast before, but done that way, the trip only takes a few hours. However, even in the best of times, before the added hassle of increased airport security, and when I was still small enough to be flung over a shoulder like a sac of potatos, it took a minimun of two other helpers to get me through the airport system, and that option is just not available to me this time.
So, instead of five hours in transit each way, the trip will involve five days in transit ... in a new van, which hasn't arrived yet, and with someone who, although I like her well enough, I haven't spent more than an hour or two in her company at a time (and that's a rarity -- usually, it's a few minutes of casual contact every three days or so). My biggest fear is that our casual friendship won't last the 120 hours (or 7,200 minutes) of non-stop togetherness.
And right now, she's the one person I depend on most to help me in my daily life...
(you got the "zero G" feeling in the pit of your stomach, yet? I do...)
It's almost enough prompt one to go to bed and pull the covers up over one's head...
And yet: "The grace of God is found between the saddle and the ground."
Not just in risking the fall, but the falling itself -- going up against your limits, and then going beyond them. So you fail, and you fall. But in that split second between leaving the saddle and hitting the ground, you can find the grace of God.
And whatever happens after that, your life will be just that much wider and grander for the experience.
And that's what has me excited about going to this Gallifrey One convention -- not the chance to meet "stars," or attend events, but the going itself, the expansion of my horizens (and, of course, the chance to really hug my friends, instead of just typing *hug*).
In a real way, I see this trip as a major crossroads. I either go, and potentially change the direction and scope of my life, or I don't, and my life stays the same as it is now until I die. They didn't quite catch that aspect of sci-fi conventions in "Galaxy Quest"...
---
Oh. And there is another way to look at that proverb: One thing that is also "between the saddle and the ground" is the horse. And as far as I'm concerned, the horse is an embodiment of divine grace.
Anyway, the proverb inspired me to come up with this icon. I hope you like...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 05:34 pm (UTC)Re: Hugs n' Icons
Date: 2004-01-30 05:57 pm (UTC)And I'm looking forward to dispensing them. One thing about hugs: every time you give one, you get one in return!
And speaking of icons why is Sylv hammering a nail into his head? ;-)
Re: Hugs n' Icons
Date: 2004-01-30 06:48 pm (UTC)Because he can! (Actually, anybody can - it's a matter of sticking it up the right place...)
Re: Hugs n' Icons
Date: 2004-01-30 08:59 pm (UTC)Why would he want to hammer a nail into his head? :-P
Re: Hugs n' Icons
Date: 2004-01-30 09:33 pm (UTC)In the Ken Campbell Road Show, they did a show called "An evening with Sylveste McCoy, the Human Bomb" and it was about this little feller in a stunt troup who did all the really dangerous things. Hammering a nail into his head was one of the tricks. Stuffing ferrets down his trews was another. And he caught a ball of cotton wool on fire just by thinking about it.
So, to sum it all up - he dun it for the money!
no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 05:38 pm (UTC)Re: travel
Date: 2004-01-30 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-30 06:34 pm (UTC)- Talia/Jen
Horse and rider
Date: 2004-01-31 12:32 pm (UTC)*CapriUni nods.
It's that very trust I see as one of the attributes of divine grace made manifest in horses. Face it. Horses are a prey animal. Humans are predators. Humans have and do eat horses on a regular basis. So for a horse to let a human ride on her back would not be so different than if a human served a tiger.
And yet, with a little patience, kindness and respect, horses can not only trust us, but truly care for us.
Granted, every horse I've ever known has been as school horse trained to work with the disabled, and they wouldn't be there if they weren't incrediblyy patient and gentle by nature to begin with. So making generalizations about equine nature based on this select group would be like making generalizations about human nature based solely on the personality of kindergarten teachers.
However, every horse I've known, has, in some way or other, shown care for my wellbeing.* That's not just blind obedience through fear or submission. That's (and yes, I'll dare to use the word, here) love. And that's miraculous.
*Esther, pictured above, used to get upset with the therapist for tugging on my legs ... she was a Lady of a horse (if she were in the wild, I could easily see her as an alpha mare of the herd), and she knew "One just does not do that -- it's impolite!"