Jockeying for Position
Posted by Greg Heeres on May 1, 2009
The 2009 Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 2 at Churchill Downs. This will be the 135th derby. Most of us admire horses. Their strength. Their speed. They’re expensive…. I should know because my oldest daughter loves horses. She started taking riding lessons at the age of five. She is an accomplished bareback rider now. She can whisper to her horse and make him do astonishing things, but she is not a jockey. She is tall and beautiful. Most jockeys are males standing 5’3” and weighing 120lbs.
During the Kentucky Derby race, the jockeys will coax, callout, even whip their horses to run faster, stay in their lane, catch the draft of the horse ahead, and sprint to the finish line in hopes of claiming the coveted blanket of roses, a trophy, and fifteen minutes of fame. They jockey for position so as to give themselves and their horse the best chance to win.
We sometimes jockey in life too. We train. Prepare. Sacrifice. Eat right and get lots of sleep (now that sounds like advice from my Grandma). And then jockey for position in life. Sometimes we can lose sight of the real meaning of life when we race. Only concerned about position as if that is how life is measured. Often the view in life is the backend of the horse in front of us. We gallop through life to pass others forgetting to notice them at all. We trot with horse blinders on and miss opportunities to stop and graze. We gallop toward the finish line, yet we miss the scenery along the way.
A long time urban pastor friend of mine once cautioned me that during his 60+ years of ministry he has visited hundreds of folks on their death bed in the hospital. Not a single person ever shared with him that they wish they had worked more.
Regardless if the favored horse, I Want Revenge starting in position 13, wins this Saturday, there will be pageantry at Churchill Downs and the jockey and their horse will do their best to put together a great race.
Let’s observe the Kentucky Derby race for what it is — a beautiful horse race but also realize that we don’t have to jockey through life. The trophy in life is noticing people, taking the blinders off, stopping to graze and enjoying the scenery.
