Transitions.

Last night I was watching the first round of the end-of-the-year 10 round main event Rodeo that's basically the National Championship for the Rodeo world. It's a 10 round marathon which will be going on here for the next couple weeks.

Anyway, I was watching the barrel racing (girl on horse ride full speed into a rink with three barrels and rides around them all in a clover-leaf pattern and rides back out) and the announcers were talking about how important it was for the horse to keep their momentum going as the weaved around each barrel. In a good turn the horse would come in close to the barrel (without knocking it down) and sorta plant his forelegs and have his hindquarters swing around the curve and power forward towards the next barrel. In a poor turn the horse would go out too wide and not swing his hindquarters, but more have to stop and turn. This meant the horse would lose all their speed coming into the barrel and have to regenerate their speed from scratch. This got me thinking.

Making good transitions in life involves keeping our momentum going forward.

Whether it's big transition (getting married, having kids, moving, new job, losing job, loved one dies, major illness, etc...) or a more daily type transition (going from prayer to working, multi-tasking, etc...) we need to keep our spiritual momentum moving forward. How often do we leave prayer and then jump into our work and play and forget and totally forget the presence of God? We need to improve our transitions so that we maintain our the momentum of our spiritual life! How?

Based on the horse:

1. Technique.
2. Trusting obedience.
3. Practice.
4. Wisdom- or seeing the big picture.

The horse has to approach the barrel right and have the right techinical expertise to maintain his momentum. He has to listen and obey his rider to be guided into being on the right course and positioning. He has to train with his rider to get all that down pat. He has to realize (wisdom) the big picture of the race- he has MORE barrels to get around and in order to do that fast he has to handle this barrel in the right way.

WE need to study the saints and spiritual masters in order to learn how to pray (not in a complex manner- but just the basics), we need to develop a trusting relationship with God who guides our prayer life. We need to PRACTICE our transitions- make it something we TRY to do well- otherwise it will never happen. And we have to gain the wisdom of seeing how God is in our entire life and that we should be spiritually united with Him in every moment all the way to the finish line. We need to continually be aware that THERE IS A FINISH LINE! There ARE WINNERS AND LOSERS.

"Run as to win."