Saturday, May 16, 2009

Vocational Awareness


If you have any interest at all in horse racing you will get a chance to learn a great lesson in vocational awareness this weekend by watching Calvin Borel ride the filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness this weekend.


Calvin is the son of cane farmers, and never went further than the 8th grade in school. He is a self professed simple man, but he has a way with horses. He didn't just come by this gift naturally; it comes from spending hours and hours with the horses he loves. He says that the only way to learn how to "read" a horse is to spend time with the horse you are going to ride. You have to enter into a relationship with the horse.
Hmm, doesn't that sound a bit like our relationship with God? Our relationship with God doesn't just magically appear because we decide we want it. We have to spend time creating it by spending time with God in prayer to develop a relationship.
Calvin loves to ride and has loved it since he was a kid. He would spend all day at the track, working horses in the morning and then after a rest in the middle of the day he would race them in the afternoon. He knew that he could race horses and make them winners but it was a tough job making others believe that he could do it. It never got him down though, as long as he could ride.
In our developing relationship with God we should be willing to put the time in no matter what we get back in return. We can go through very dry spells in our prayer life, but none of that should matter so long as we continue to pray. Praying should be what we love, not the consolation that comes from our prayers.

Now after winning the Kentucky Derby two years ago and then this year winning both the Oaks and the Derby people are beginning to see his gift.
Part of anyone's vocational awareness prayers should be knowing where your gifts are and using them to the best of your ability with humility and grace. Calvin Borel is a great example of someone who has used the gifts God gave him to great result and who shows humility and grace in victory. We could all learn a great lesson from watching this simple man do what he loves to do, and who does it so well.

1 comment:

Adoro said...

Good post. I'm a HUGE fan of horseracing, but haven't been able to watch the Triple Crown for the last few years due to work/school. WAs sitting in a classroom this afternoon. :-(

One of the reasons I love horseracing is the stories, the very real people living that life, and what they bring to the sport.

btw...they need Catholic chaplains to serve at the tracks!