Maybe it was on this day in the 600’s
that Aidan gave King Oswin’s gift-horse
to the peasant he passed.

Maybe the peasant had seen the holy man
coming at a distance, filled with the mystery
of the Holy Island.

Then the mystery dismounted his horse.
I see him silently give over the reins
with a gentle nod and smile.

Later the king fumed and blustered,
and wondered why his horse was wasted
on some poor nobody.

Aidan stood unbowed and undeterred,
“Is God’s beloved of less value than your horse?”
The king bowed, deterred.

We walked on the trail and reminisced
about the simplicity that captured us early on,
and saved us from many kings.

We also got off a few horses to accompany
poor souls who did not amount to much
or warrant stories.

Even Aidan, who made it into Bede’s book,
and is named on Lindisfarne to this day
is an untold tale,

lost in the smorgasbord of media,
digested in a glut of engorged data,
a footnote perhaps.

Yet I am heartened he is no hero,
not a billboard or line of merchandise,
just someone to meet,

just someone on the road who gets down
and is just a person who knows you,
who cares to see,

who cares little for kings and horses
and knows very little about what is right
except to be in Christ.

*****
Today is Peter Claver Day! Honor his devotion at The Transhistorical Body.