Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

That's a great quote from Oscar Wilde. Another good one on forgiveness:

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." - Lewis Smedes

In case you haven't figured it out yet, today's reading tells a story about forgiveness. It's Mathew 18:21-35 and Fr. Ed didn't think that this particular verse is so much about forgiveness as it is compassion.

I agree.

Really, that's all forgiveness is. The ability to have compassion enough for someone to try and understand the situation through their eyes. And then when you can't, forgetting about it and loving them anyway. I know you're thinking, "Whatever man, I'm not Christ. You don't understand what 'so and so' did to me."

You're right I don't. But let me say this. If that person did what you think they did and hasn't approached you about it yet, YOU are the only one being effected by not forgiving them. The weight is beared by you alone. And you are alone. Until you embrace compassion for that person and hand the situation to Christ for Him to deal with, you are walking alone. Without Love there is no forgiveness and without forgiveness, there is no Love.

I know there is someone in your life you have not forgiven. There is in mine. Forgive them, right now. In your heart forgive them. Next time you see them, you don't have to tell them you forgive them. Just shake their hand and look them in the eye. They'll know. Give them a hug. They'll know. Maybe even just say hello. They'll know.

One more thing. Forgive yourself.

Is the third time really a charm?

Update:The vet report came back in on the horse. He had a twisted gut. For those of who don't know horses all that well, a twisted gut is just what it says it is. However, it's referred to as a REALLY bad colic. Colics (basically a bad belly ache for a horse) come in different flavors: compaction, sand and twisted gut. Twisted guts are instantly serious and usually result in death. Unfortunately, the little paint horse was no exception.

Original Post
This weekend was great. And then Sunday rolled around. There are plenty of details in this story that I'm going to leave out. I don't want to dwell on any of it and it doesn't help convey the message to get distracted by tangents.

We received a call from the man who was taking care of the horses. I had a paint two-year old gelding down in my round pen. Dead. I hadn't even gotten the chance to ride him yet. He was a new arrival. And now he's dead. So I scratched team roping plans for that afternoon, loaded my calf horse, colt, and stud and headed north.

On the way out, I had to run a check by my grandfather's house for the ranch horse I sold for him in San Antonio. I was leaving a message for the owner of the horse that had died while heading over to John Morgan's house when the black and tan coon dog gyp of my Dad's fell under the trailer and got run over. She was running beside the truck playing with Gus and Lola in the back of my truck I guess and fell. Anyway, she's dead.

I finally get back home and get the dead horse situation resolved. So I head out to feed the roping cattle and call it a day. A long and crappy day. What do I find? A dead roping calf. Seriously!?!? What the heck is going on man!?

A young horse, coon dog and a roping calf all goners. So I figured I could either write a country song and pop open a cold one, or get into scripture and post it here on the Spiritual Horseman. I decided on a hybrid. A cold one and scripture. Hey, I'm Catholic... and Irish. That's just the way it's going to be.

You might know there would be plenty of scripture covering loss and death in the bible. Yes, He gives and He takes away. Yes, He is a refuge for the oppressed. And so on, And so on. But this one caught my attention:

Isaiah 54:10
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

This isn't talking about how we should handle loss and death and frustration. This addresses how He handles it when, oh let's say that hypothetically ;) you have three animals die in one freakin' day and you fly off the handle a little bit. Even though we forget Him, even though we neglect Him, even if we sometimes resent Him. . . He still loves us. His promise to us will never be broken.

That's just straight up living by example. If we could only be half as strong. He doesn't tell us how to handle loss. He just handles it and all we have to do is follow His lead. Who are you following right now?

Faith in consistancy... and achievements will come.

Saturday after the Ranch Rodeo meeting, my wife and I headed for Refugio for the open pro rodeo. I had a calf horse with me that needed to be hauled and I hadn't gotten to rodeo in a VERY long time. Mostly quarter horse shows for me.

It was Joe's first rodeo and he was definitely feeling out of place. Every banner was extremely menacing and every fan on the other side of the rail was probably going to kill him. The speakers above us in the small arena in Refugio may as well have been hanging around his neck and they weren't exactly playing country gospel. But here's the thing. With time, he did great. I didn't make anything a big deal. If you do, you can't be surprised when it turns into a big deal. We just road around until he relaxed a little and was OK with everything that was going on.

When it came time to compete, he was ready. I was ready. Every one I talked to said that the calf I had drawn tried a little. In other words, he ran. The problem was that every other calf I saw go didn't hardly leave at all. They broke slow and high loped across the pen. I started to second guess the advice I had received about my calf. Morgan had a great comment though. Being new to this whole scene, ol' Joe might hesitate a bit coming across the line. So I decided to go ahead and give my calf the start I had decided on in the first place. And it was a good thing I did. He did run. Joe did great coming across the line. Barely a flutter as he ran through the barrier strap. He ran into the hole hard and started to stop hard. We were on the left fence though and he was still pretty worried about all of those folks on the other side. He wandered around a little before he decided to go back to work. It would have cost me if I had not drawn a runner in the first place. However, we were already out of it so I was just glad he went back to work. The next one will be better.

That's just it. Every time should be a little bit better than the last time. If I can manage that, he'll be the best one going in just a couple more months. Especially with what we started out with this weekend.

This is true with anything. Everyone wants to have a million dollars, or lose 100 lbs. Instead, save 1 dollar and lose 1 lb. Then, tomorrow, do it again. Work to be consistant. Have faith.

RanchRodeo Finals Wrap-Up

The producers of the 2nd Annual Finals for Ranch Rodeo Finals in South Texas will meet this weekend to discuss funds dispersal for our scholarship recipients, circuit rodeo applications and sponsorships. This event is groing VERY fast. Please keep the entire organization in your prayers.

Please pray:

• That the event continues to be 100% philanthropic.


• That we are blessed with enough knowledgeable volunteers to continue to be 100% volunteer driven


• That the popularity of Ranch Rodeo Finals continues to grow.


• That the beneficiaries of our scholarships return to South Texas in an effort to positively impact the area.

Thank you all for keeping up with the Spiritual Horseman and thank you in advance for your prayers. - James O'Brien

Do you know Lazarus? Are you him?

I didn't make it to the ranch today. I'll be down there this weekend for Refugio's Open Pro Rodeo and I don't think that much was planned for today anyway. I hope. So I have had a chance to enjoy a Thursday at home. And it rained. Make no mistake, I'm not complaining, I'm rejoicing. It would have stunk if I had driven down to the ranch and missed getting to watch it rain. They didn't get any moisture. Hopefully there's still a chance because it's dry down there. None of this really has anything to do with what I want to share today, but I don't have a ranch story today and that's why.

Today's Gospel reading comes from Luke and it's the one about Lazarus. I know that the focus within this story is supposed to be on the rich man's cold heart and indifference. However, I'd like to know more about this cat Lazarus. There are so many people in today's world that sit around and do nothing while they complain about having it so bad. Don't get me wrong, it's our job to look after the lowly in this world. I'm not in any way defending the rich man in the story. Burn buddy. That's all I have for you. But, isn't there always somebody out there that is less fortunate than you are? And isn't there also somebody out there who is more fortunate than you are? Regardless of how wealthy or despondant you may be, there's always someone worse off and someone better off.

I say pull your self pittying butt off the ground Lazarus. Somebody out there needs you. They need your story. They need your Love. Who knows, they may just need your company. I have a feeling that there are plenty of people out there right now that feel more like Lazarus than the rich man. Well, the only way it's going to get any better is if you make it better. Take action today.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Are you wondering why the world has got you down? Why doesn't the rich man stop to help you out? Change starts with you. Get with it.

Servant Leadership

I have a couple, actually three, new two year olds to get started under saddle. They simply amaze me. They're wild eyed, skittish and everything is new to them. People, brushes, feedsacks (whoa, now we're just getting carried away). Burning with anticipation for what's coming next, they can't decide to run or stop, go right or left. The confident ones will stand with head slightly bowed and off to one side while they rock like a newly diagnosed parkinson's patient. The scared ones just travel out. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving. The dense ones don't even know I'm standing in the round pen.

While teaching these guys to catch up this morning, I wondered if it's the same with people. The fact that these horses are so different, but with the same concepts, not actions but concepts, you can bring them all to the same place. Then I went to the church-house.

It was awesome. Guess what today's reading covered? Servant Leadership.

That's it. My morning contemplation had come full circle. You can make a horse do anything. But the guys who are winning at high level competitions ask their horses to do things. Teaching horses and then asking them to do what you have prepared them to do is a sure way to success. Personally, I am not a people person. I have always relished seclusion. However, in the last year or so, I have realized that it's because my ways with horses were almost exactly opposite of my ways with people. Recently, I have decided to be more social. To be inviting. To be a servant.

Ronald Reagan once said, "It's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, "...whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant."

And so it is that through service we become great. Do you let your pride get in the way? With horses, pride will get you hurt. Sometimes seriously hurt. I know, because I've been there. It's the same with people. Who are you serving?

The humble shall be exalted.

Today's Gospel reading shares a lesson of humility. We strive for success, we pray for opportunity, wisdom and courage.

What we have to be careful about is when those prayers are answered. Stay humble. Stay You.

"Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power." - Eric Hoffer

Mr. Christian went to church, he never missed a Sunday. Mr Christian went to hell for what he did on Monday.