The Stallion

It had been a good year and the regal Stallion could be seen gazing over the river. The sun was setting and oh, what a beautiful sunset it was. The amazing shades of color that filled the sky seemed to reflect off his shiny white coat. The grass was green from the many storms that had passed. All seemed calm now, though.

He wasn’t just any stallion, he was the pride of the herd. Many a challenger sought to replace him, but here he stood, the ultimate victor. The Stallion was deep in thought. Those thoughts were not of the next battle. Those thoughts were not thoughts of protecting his herd. No, those thoughts were of rest. He was weary and he just wanted to rest.

Most of the horses in his position would be roaming through the mares and geldings. Their manes would be flowing in the wind and you would almost be able to hear the soft music in the background synchronizing to their motions. There would be no challengers today, because all the other horses not only respected him, they feared him, too.

The world he came from was not the place he wished to be at that moment. As he looked over the pastel colors painted on the water by the reflection of the sunset, he began to wonder just how many more of his days would allow him opportunities like this one. He longed for no more battles. He needed no more respect. He just wanted to live out his days in peaceful moments just like this one.

The stallion came from some very strong stock. His father was a stallion, too. But most herds only have enough space for one dominate stallion. So the young colt had to find a new herd of his own. So off went the young colt to make a name for himself.

Mature horses don’t just yield the pasture to young colts. Young colts must earn the right to hold their heads high. He was a smart colt, though. He watched and learned as much as he could. Desire for respect became like grass in the field and he never wanted to go hungry. Gaining that respect would drive his efforts more than anything else.

The young colt thought he could become a stallion using a different approach than most of the stallions before him had used. He thought he could work hard and earn the respect of the other horses and then he would trot right into the stallion position. So he worked and he worked and he worked at it.

When the young colt thought he was ready to step into the role of stallion, he happened upon a group of other stallions. They didn’t notice his presence behind the trees and he remained absolutely silent as he listened to their conversation. He leaned in and listened even harder.

One of the stallions stated, “He’s a little funny with his high hope dreams. He actually thinks he has a chance to become one of us. I think he is more fitted to become a gelding.” Then uncontrollable laughter filled the group. The young colt realized they were talking about him. The poor little horse was heartbroken.

Dejected, he lowered his head and slowly walked back out to the field. Was all his hard work for naught? Maybe they were right. Maybe he was just not meant to become a stallion.

A few days passed and the colt’s confidence returned to him. He realized that his dream was probably not going to be realized in this herd. So the young horse decided to once again head out in a different direction.

The horse didn’t have to go far before he happened upon a group of misfit horses. Most of these horses were upset, just like him, about the crushing of their dreams by these high and mighty stallions. He decided to wander with this herd for a little while.

The young colt noticed that among the group there was much talent. He also noticed that he was much taller; at least three hands taller than most of the other horses. He also noticed that he was, by far, the most muscular of the whole herd. It was only fitting that he become the stallion of the group. He had earned the herd’s respect and he was so much bigger than any of the other horses, so no one dared to challenge him. So he was crowned the Stallion.

Confidence soon became a regular resident of this group of misfits. In no small part, it was a confidence the newly installed Stallion built in them. They soon realized they had just as much right to the lush pastures as any other horses. They didn’t need to lower their heads when the other horses walked by.

The other stallions began to take notice. They did not like the new attitude this herd was developing. They decided that is was time to change this herd’s attitude. When they walked by they expected the other horses to bow in their presence and do whatever they said. There would be none of this equal stuff.

The misfits decided they didn’t want to give up their new found freedom of confidence. But they were just a scrawny group of horses that had no idea how to stand together and stand up for that freedom. Who could organize them? Who could keep their confidence high? Who could lead them?

A group of the bright horses from the herd gathered together, and almost in unison, they turned their heads in the Stallion’s direction. He was a natural choice. He was big. He was beautiful. He was muscular. He commanded respect, not by force, but by his example. With almost the same rhythm, the group of horses turned back to each other and, like a chorus, each shouted, “What about him?”

They approached the Stallion with their desires to demand their freedom and respect from the other stallions. The Stallion had worked side by side with the other stallions and he knew they would be very upset by this rebellion. He also knew they were much stronger and better organized than this group of misfits. He also knew that it was very likely his herd would get crushed by the stampede that was likely to result when the other stallions found out about their demands. He really didn’t want any of his herd to get hurt.

He told the group that he didn’t think it was a good idea. He didn’t believe they were strong enough to demand anything from the other stallions. Then one in the group said to him, “So, you think we are nothing but a group of misfits, too?”

That statement was like an arrow that pierced the Stallion’s heart. He knew what it was like to be considered a misfit. He knew what it was like to be thought of as beneath other horses. He knew what it was like to have his dreams crushed, not because he was incapable of reaching them, but, because others weren’t willing to give him the chance to accomplish them.

So the Stallion set out with the almost impossible task of helping his herd gain their freedom and respect. He understood the task. He knew the difficulties. And the challenge gave him such a rush.

Things did not go well for the Stallion and his herd. As the dust cloud of the stampede approached, many of his fellow horses fell back with fear. When the first round was over, many questioned his leadership. Some even wondered if it was all worth it. Things were not looking good.

The stampede pushed the misfits into one corner then another. The stampede’s dust clouds offered very little openings in the sky for their dreams to shine through. The magic of independence was quickly vanishing into the dark hole of depression. The faith in the Stallion and the faith in the idea of being free was suddenly something they were close to surrendering for a return to their old life which was miserable, but at least it was free from conflict.

Despite the herd’s cries, the Stallion refused to give up. When others tried to replace him, he just raised his head higher. Despite the dust, he could always be seen rising above it, raining down encouragement on them. They couldn’t give up, if for no other reason than they didn’t want to disappoint him.

Many scars and many defeats covered their horizon. Many wondered if the sun would ever again shine through the clouds. Then they would turn their heads in his direction and they would see his confidence and that would hold them over until the sun would shine again.

Then one day there was a peek of sun that shone through the dust clouds. It was just a small beam, but it was the sun no less. The Stallion knew their time had come. He let the herd know that victory would shortly be at hand if they only could muster their greatest strength and confidence for that moment.

His speech excited the herd. They were ready to charge. Just like he told him, they were able to chase the other stallions away. Freedom was now theirs. Everyone in the herd was so excited.

After the victory, the Stallion decided to return home. He was tired and he just wanted to live out his days at the old farm that sat beside the river. That’s where our story of the Stallion began. He was standing by the water. It’s a story of a hero. It’s a story of a horse who not only dreamed, but he also helped other horses reach their dreams, too.

If the story ended there, we would have a great story. We could understand the Stallion’s wish to enjoy the retirement he thought laid in front of him. We would be happy that he believe not only in himself, but in the idea of helping others reach the happiness that only freedom can provide.

But the story doesn’t end there. You see, as our Stallion looked over the river, thinking he was now going to be able to catch his breath, he noticed a couple of horses trotting up the trail. He knew their familiar faces and a tear came to his eyes. He knew it wasn’t a friendly visit they were making.

As the horses moved closer to the Stallion, he tried to look to the sky and plead with his maker to make their message anything but the question he knew they would ask. He could hardly look at the other horses as they started their speech.

First the horses complimented him for his great service and the freedom they now enjoyed because of his efforts. Then came the question, the question he did not want to hear. They were going to start a new counsel and they wanted him to be the first leader. It broke his heart.

With excitement, they explained how they wanted to have a new type of herd. It would be a herd where the misfit, as well has the most beautiful or powerful horse would be equals. They understood the challenges this would bring. They also knew there was only one horse who was capable of keeping the herd together as they conquered those challenges. That horse was him.

He really didn’t want to do it. He was at the farm and just wanted to live out his days here. Then a ray of light escaped through the clouds. The beam was like a spotlight that shone on him and him only. He glanced up into the sky. He knew, once again, that God had asked him to step outside himself and to place others’ needs in front of his own. With a selfless, tired heart he accepted their mission.

For many long years he served the herd once more. Then one day he said it was time for another horse to step forward. He really needed the rest. Things had stabilized and the grateful herd, despite being very sad by his decision, accepted his desire. So off our Stallion went to find the rest he so desired next to the river.

The old Stallion didn’t rest too long beside the river. He would only celebrate two more birthdays and his eyes would close for the last time. He would now find eternal rest by the rivers in an eternal kingdom. His ears would no longer hear the pleas of the misfits. Instead, he would hear the choir of angels.

He would forever be remembered as the Stallion who was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his herd.

The Presidential similar story:

When one looks at the life of George Washington, one can’t help to notice a few things. Washington was very protective of his reputation. He worked hard to earn the respect of those in his life. When he felt as though someone might tarnish his image he would scrub real hard to eliminate that residue. He would not do it in a vindictive manner. He would do it by rising above the situation. This only earned him more respect.

Before there was even a thought of us becoming an independent nation, we were part of the British Empire. Sure, there were times we would get upset with our government, but we even do that today. I don’t believe there were too many people who would have even thought of separating from our motherland.

England gave us a great deal of freedom to handle our affairs, as long as they aligned with the English way and we paid our tribute, or taxes, to the kingdom. In return, England offered to protect us when we needed protecting.

We were a lot smaller then. We had the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Appalachian Mountains on the other side. As we grew, we needed more room, so the wilderness west of the Appalachians became more attractive. The problem was that there were savages, or as the history books call them, Indians, out there and they claimed that this was their land.

To add to the problem, Britain had a fierce enemy. It was the French. A little to the west of the area the colonists wanted to extend to was the Mississippi River and the Ohio Valley. This belonged to the French. The French had developed a relationship with many of the Indian tribes. The French would trade with them, and, at times, help them when the British tried to push themselves on them.

Young George Washington was a surveyor. A lot of his survey work was out in this wilderness. He probably knew this wilderness better than anyone else in the colonies.

The king of England decided that the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia should send a group out into the wilderness to tell the French to leave. There were also some tribes that were friendly, or at least had treaties with the British, too. There was no better person to send on this mission, who was better equipped than George Washington. Washington knew the area better than just about anyone else and he also knew some the leaders of Indian tribes.

Of course, the French would have none of this talk of giving up land to their enemy, the British. So they pretty much chased Washington and his scouts back to Virginia. Washington was only twenty-one years old at the time.

When parts of Washington’s journal were published, not only were the people in Virginia enraged, but so was the British government, namely the King. If politely asking wouldn’t work, the King would resort to force to remove these pesky Indians and Frenchmen.

So the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, ordered a state militia be formed. Dinwiddie was actually a British colonial administrator. At the time, the actual governor of this colony, was largely absent, so it was actually the Lieutenant Governor who ran things.

Dinwiddie had to decide who would lead this group. The choice was the English-born and Oxford-educated Joshua Fry. Fry was given the rank of Colonel. The choice of Fry’s assistant was an obvious choice: it was George Washington. The young Washington was quite proud of the honor. He was given the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The British military system would never think of any of their citizens of their colonies as equals. A British soldier with the rank of captain, which was under the rank of George Washington’s lieutenant colonel, could give orders to Washington, which he would have to obey. This is probably about the time that George Washington developed the drive that he was not inferior to anyone.

The French began to seize forts and grounds and before you knew it the English and the colonials were at war with the French and the Indians. It was known in Europe as the Seven Years’ War, but across the pond, here in North America, we would refer to it as the French and Indian War.

During that war, the British sent Captain James Mackay, who was given his command by a royal commission, and a group of South Carolina Independents, into the war to meet up with Washington. When Captain Mackay took over for Washington, it once again grated on Washington’s nerves.

Even though Washington and Mackay would experience a humiliating defeat at the battle of Fort Necessity, Washington would learn a great deal about wilderness fighting, where Indians sniping from behind trees, rigged surprised ambushes, and vanished into the woods after they fired their shots. That was far from the “normal” European warfare where the troops would gather in compact masses and the best man or army would win. He also learned that defending forts, when all results point to that action as nothing more than a death trap, was futile.

When the British would come down on the colonies and they seemed to tax them to help support their wars in other countries, the colonies came to realize that it was in their best interest to, not only remind the British to respect them, but they also thought the taxes were unreasonable. With his pride hurt, the King decided it was time to teach the colonists a lesson. When the colonists rebelled, he sent his troops to teach them a lesson.

The colonists decided they would then take things one step farther. They would demand their independence. To back it up, they asked George Washington to take command and organize an army to stand up to the British.

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” were the shouts of the colonists when we first cried out for our independence. It didn’t take long for the colonists to realize that they had picked a fight with someone who was bigger, better financed, and stronger than they were. Everything went terribly wrong. Soldiers were running from the battles and we were losing ground left and right. Cities began to fall to the enemy. Doom was everywhere.

Without a victory, and retreat being the only tool he seemed to be using, everyone began to question Washington’s leadership. Others plotted behind his back to take his place. Even when Washington was told, he would rise above the mutiny and he would overcome the obvious with his sheer confidence. There may have been those who questioned his leadership, but there were very few who did not respect him. He seemed to be above the pettiness that surrounded him.

Washington would eventually find his break and turn the tide in our favor. We would win the war of our independence. Washington became a national hero. Very few would ever dare to even say anything bad about him.

Weary from the war, Washington really looked forward to retiring to his home, Mount Vernon. When he was asked by others to become the new nation’s first leader, or President, he really didn’t want to do it. It took some cunning maneuvers to convince him to change his mind. They appealed to his pride, something that usually worked, and told him he was the only one who had the reputation to keep the somewhat independent states together as they tried to form one nation out of them.

Reluctantly Washington agreed to their demands and served two very hard terms as the first President of this new nation. In a land where no one really knew how to start a nation, everyone had their own ideas of how it should operate. Back stabbing became the norm. Once again Washington rose above it and kept us together.

After eight years in office, Washington decided he had had enough. He believed the new nation was now very capable of surviving with new leadership. He just wanted to retire to Mount Vernon.

I guess the saddest part of the whole story is that Washington only lived two years after he left the Presidency. For a man who gave us so much, he really had no time to enjoy a life of peace that he so desired.

If you were asked to name three Presidents, my guess would be that Washington’s name would come up on most people’s list. At the time of his death, there was a true sense of heartbreak in this new country called The United States of America. He really did earn the title: First in war, first in peace, and first in the heart of his countrymen.

Moral lesson:

The unfortunate part of life is that there are times when people will fail to believe in us. They will command respect from us, but, despite our best efforts, they will not return that respect. It can be an exhausting and depressing adventure.

Despite our condition, we do have choices when this happens. The easiest might be to keep our heads lowered and let our situations continue as they are. Of course, we can grumble about how unfair this is to us and it would keep us from having to deal directly with the situation. For if we keep the peace at all cost, and remain the silent sufferer, life would be so much better, wouldn’t it?

We could also go into the back-stabbing stage. Our undermining the process might weaken it and then it may be easier for our ways to shine through. Bad-mouthing people, especially when they have no idea that we are doing it or where it is coming from, is the preferred tactic of most people. It’s easy and often leaves no fingerprints.

Or we could just wander around like a group of misfits. We want someone to lead us, but we definitely don’t want that person to be us. We can think of a thousand reasons why someone else is better suited than we are. We might even be able to think of even more reasons why we shouldn’t do the leading. Regardless, we are very picky about this leader and we want to make sure that person only has our views.

It takes a very special person to be a leader. There are so many risks involved when standing there by yourself on stage. There is always the possibility that we will have tomatoes thrown at us. Reviews may shine a dark light on our performance. “Even I could have done better than that,” might be the whispers behind our back.

But a true leader has focus. The chatter behind him, or in front of him, does not distract him from his goal. He knows that reaching lofty goals will require extreme effort and that setbacks will happen along the way. His strength is not bound up in the moment and it will not be reached until the goal is met. It takes a very strong leader to not give up when there looks like there is no hope in that goal being met.

I believe there are moments in all our lives where we are called to be that leader. Maybe it is seeing someone go through a difficult time like we have been through. We face the choice, do we help them or do we just keep to ourselves? It is usually not what we say, but the confidence we exert that they can make it through it just like we did.

There might be those who lost their job. Their strength and confidence may have taken a hard hit. They may just need a little nudge that they are valued even if their employers don’t see it.

Maybe it is when a friend knows someone who is dying and they need that strong shoulder on which they can lean. They often need to know their hurting is not in vain. That person that meant so much to them needs to be honored and remembered, not forgotten. They may just need us to share some memories or stories of that person without being one upped by other stories or “Oh, I know just how you feel.”

Simply, leadership isn’t just telling people what to do. Leadership is inspiring people to rise above the doubts they have about themselves. It is developing in them a sense of purpose that is above themselves. It is them seeing someone who cares about them as more that what they can do. A leader has a vision and is willing to share his glasses so others can see that vision, too.

Great leaders, even among the smallest crowds, leave footprints in the sand. Their huge impressions and narrow paces make it easy for others to see their steps. Our eyes open wide in their presence, our hearts take an extra beat by their compassion, and our ears are open to their suggestions.

A good leader understands the pain that can be afflicted by his doubters. Although those words hurt, he knows that rebuking them will not change their affections. He rises above the smoke of their words and lifts others up in the process.

Prayer thoughts:

God sending our country good leaders
God letting us be there when there are needs with our friends, our nation, and those who could use our help
God helping our friends, our nation, and all those who have needs