I just learned something new about horses from a friend who is an avid horsewoman. She told me that these beautiful animals are trained to do something called “spooking in place”.
“What is that?” I asked. I’d never heard the term.
“Well,” she explained, “when a horse startles, his first instinct is to bolt and run. The owner must train him to listen to his voice, to respond to pressure on his sides, and to ‘spook in place’. The horse, although still frightened, will hold still and relax because he knows that his master is in control, eventually breathing deeply to release the fear.
This brings us to the word “meek”, which has come to mean timid, soft, a pushover. Not so in ancient Biblical Greek. The Greeks “meeked” their horses to respond to only one voice. The horse trained in this way would stand entirely still in the midst of battle, even at the risk of his life, at his master’s command. He was meeked, tamed to one voice. He could “spook in place”.
Here is something to consider. How many times do I give in to my fear, bolting or running ahead full tilt, flailing around for answers?
Fear is not a sin; it is an emotion. Fear comes to all of us. It’s how we react to it that makes the difference. When we know who holds our reins, when we stop and listen for God’s voice, when we hear Him say “Stand still; I’ve got this”, we can relax and breathe in His Holy Presence. It changes everything. Not a bad idea to “spook in place”.