Pilgrimage: Going to God for the Solutions to Life
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’
Some time ago, a horse fell ill following what should have been a routine, wellness check at a local equine veterinarian.
What transpired, though was an erroneous treatment by the vet in which the horse was given an antiparasitic designed for use in cattle. She became so ill, so quickly, that the resulting ‘colic’ [a twisting of the gut and a common killer of horses] immediately became life threatening to her. The treating vet refused to see her, no doubt due to the negligence on his part.
Complicating things further, it was a three-day holiday [Easter weekend] when she found herself at the mercy of what had to be an [unknown to her] equine vet willing to interrupt their holiday weekend to treat a horse that wasn’t even their patient — and most of the ones she called simply told her to return to the offending vet and hope that he would choose to be compassionate.
Compassion, it would seem, was going to be in short supply.
She returned to plead for the life of her horse. He still refused to see her but instead offered to send a student vet to the property. When she arrived, she assessed the situation and witnessed Shadow’s mom, sitting in the grass with Shadow’s 60 pound head in her lap, the horse clearly suffering, in obvious pain and unable to walk. She didn’t even offer to tend to the horse — but stated that the cattle preparation should not have caused such illness in a Quarter Horse. She left without even offering to try to assist.
Scrambling to find another vet was difficult but ultimately proved successful when another [Christian] vet — familiar with such a situation as well as with the vet that initially treated her — stepped up to assist her now desperate ‘mom’ and tended the horse.
He diagnosed her with ‘organo phosphate poisoning’, a toxic situation for which an antidote existed and needed to have been promptly administered. Due to the actions of the first vet, though, three days had already passed and the window during which an antidote for the antiparasitic might have [and should have] been administered had, unfortunately, closed.
Though she was quickly taken to the veterinary hospital of the attending vet, she was in serious pain from the reaction to the toxic dose and the extended period of time she went with no antidote and no treatment resulted in weakness and made her vulnerable to another condition.
Colic set in as a result of the untreated poisoning.
Her pain was so extreme that whenever she was treated with enough painkiller to quell her agony, it took large doses of painkiller and that she would lean into the wall and then slide down it, lying at the bottom in a 900 pound heap.
It looked very bad, indeed, for Shadow and after several days of treatment, she was showing no sign of improvement. The vet urged her ‘mom’ to consider euthanasia for the sake of Ev’ning Shadow.
It was true that whatever chance she had for survival was most certainly going to be an uphill battle with little hope for a positive outcome.
‘Mom’ agreed to consider releasing the horse from her misery — but asked the vet to continue easing her pain, giving her time to pray for the horse. She had been staying with Ev’ning Shadow for many hours each day and came again to visit her at night. As long as the pain was controlled, she would have at least a temporary escape from her misery.
Following the agreement with the vet, the woman left to drive to a statue of Christ some hours away in another state where she would go — encouraging others to do the same — when facing a seemingly impossible situation.
This, unfortunately, had quickly become an impossible situation. In fact, it looked utterly hopeless.
It was in the evening when she pulled away from the hospital, watching the fading image in the rearview mirror and reeling with angst at the prospect of losing her precious Quarter Horse to circumstances so unforeseen and so far out of anyone’s control.
Well into her multi-hour trip [and into her hundredth or so prayer for her horse], she reached for something to quell her fears and ease her mind. She had purchased an album of songs by a Christian group called ‘Point of Grace’ but the song that came on was not one she remembered ever having heard before.
Still praying and still tearful at the terrifying thought of having to euthanize Ev’ning Shadow, her agony was nearly palpable — but the lyrics of the song slowly began to penetrate her thoughts.
“Keep the candle burning.”
Wait — was this about Shadow?
“You think you’re alone there in your silent storm
But I’ve seen the tears you’ve cried
Falling down and trying to drown
The flame of hope inside”
The words seemed to speak directly to her and directly to the circumstances she was facing.
It was already well after 3 a.m. and she was still at least hour away from her intended destination where she knew she would find the voice that would help her determine what the answer for Shadow would be — but was she getting an answer to her prayers now, instead?
The lyrics continued speaking to her…
“When you’re walking in the dead of night
And your soul is churning
When your hope seems out of sight
Keep the candle burning”
Suddenly, she heard more than the lyrics of the song, she heard a directive in her spirit. Although was nearly 4 a.m., the directive was to ‘Keep the Candle Burnin’ and not lose hope for Ev’ning Shadow.
Suddenly, she was compelled to do something she would never have anticipated: she turned around and headed back to the animal hospital.
She no longer believed God intended for her horse to pass away, no matter how bad things had been for her before. Believing for a miracle for ‘Ev’ning Shadow, she anticipated her arrival to be about 7 a.m. It was — and the vet was already on site, working with the horse.
He reported that he had seen the horse in the wee early hours of that morning and there had been no change. However, when he came back as the sun was coming up, the blockage had dissipated and she now appeared to be past the critical stage.
There was, at this point, no reason to believe she could not to make a full recovery.
She continued showing signs of recovery and now of rapid improvement. She went home the next day to resume her life, seemingly unaffected by her bout with one of the most critical of illnesses horses ever face.
Ev’ning Shadow not only lived through this event, this happened when she was ten and she lived to be 38 years old. In her long and independent life, she assisted with everything from outreach endeavors to teaching kids to ride.
She is missed to this day and is high on her mom’s list of the animal companions [she suspects were angels in her life] that she can’t wait to see again on the other side of the veil.
Keep the Candle Burnin’
You think you're alone there in your silent storm But I've seen the tears you've cried Falling down and trying to drown The flame of hope inside Let me tell you now, tell you now When you're walking in the dead of night And your soul is churning When your hope seems out of sight Keep the candle burning All it takes is one steady heart In a world that's turning Shine a light and pierce the dark Keep the candle burning, keep the candle burning When you're down and you're discouraged When the darkness clouds your view You've got to gather up your courage You know the Lord is gonna see you through Well let me tell you now, tell you now When you're walking in the dead of night And your soul is churning When your hope seems out of sight Keep the candle burning All it takes is one steady heart In a world that's turning Shine a light and pierce the dark Keep the candle burning, keep the candle burning One ray of light always breaks through Follow wherever He takes you Wherever He takes you When you're walking in the dead of night And your soul is churning When your hope seems out of sight Keep the candle burning All it takes is one steady heart In a world that's turning Shine a light and pierce the dark Keep the candle burning When you're walking in the dead of night And your soul is churning Hope seems out of sight Keep the candle burning Just one steady heart In a world that's turning Shine a light and pierce the dark Keep the candle burning, keep the candle burning Keep the candle burning Keep the candle burning Keep the candle burning Keep the candle burning Keep the candle, keep the candle Keep the candle burning
Point of Grace – ‘Life, Love & Other Mysteries,’ Indeed
