Well, our priest (Serbian Orthodox) came out to bless the house on Wedenesday. He is new to our parish, so I felt funny about asking him to bless the barn...so after he left, we went out to do the evening feeding and took the candle and leftover holy water and did our own blessing. Though not "official," we said a prayer and asked for God's blessing on our barn. Now I realize some may say that it is not proper to ask for a religious sacrement for an animal...but we love them. They are an integral part of our lives. And further, we trust them with our lives every time we saddle up.
And trust them we did on Saturday. We had plans to meet friends at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to ride there, but we discovered we had a flat tire on our trailer (valve stem) and could not make it. So we were left to ride locally -- we rode to a county park about 5 miles south of where we live. It was fabulous! A very generous local couple donated the acreage to the county as a park. There are trails for bicycles, hikers and horseback riders. It is a popular park for dog owners because there is a "leashe-free" area. It was great -- it was a beautiful day, the horses were happy to be out, and it was a really good ride. The Girls had room to stretch their legs, we saw rabbits and deer....just wonderful! All four of us came back tired and happy.
2 comments:
Sounds like a fun ride. I haven't ridden in so long...I'm itching to get back in the saddle! By this time last year, we'd hauled out to a trail ride, in February! Haven't even thought about doing that yet this year!
I think the barn blessing sounds great! ;)
A few years back just before we sent Jesse down to the desert we were having dinner with our Rabbi and his wife. I indicated that I always get nervous when Jesse leaves and half heartedly asked the Rabbi if there was a blessing that one could say. He said that the Jewish faith valued animals and that there was a blessing he would say with me. It was one of the most meaningful experiences that I have had religously. Good for you... to bless the home of your beloved animals!!!
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