Riding the Fire Horse

Riding the Fire Horse

IMAGE: Keith Giles

There are moments in life when the practical questions—leases, storage units, timelines, logistics—begin to feel like spiritual questions in disguise.

My wife Wendy and I have been circling one of those moments lately.

We’ve been asking ourselves: Do we stay in El Paso a few more months? Extend the lease? Put everything in storage? Crash with a friend here? Try Portland? Vancouver, Washington? Dare to whisper Southern California again?

We’ve been talking. Planning. Yes, even praying.

Because sometimes the decision about where you live is really a decision about who you’re becoming.

Unexpected Confirmation

This week, I stumbled across a post on Instagram about the Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac cycle.

As I read it aloud to Wendy in the kitchen, somewhere between the second and third line, we both felt it…that sudden tightening in the chest, the water in the eyes…the feeling that something bigger than coincidence had just whispered in our ears.

The post wasn’t just mystical fluff. It felt like a direct confirmation.

Here’s what jumped out at us:

Don’t play it safe. 

Don’t stay where you’ve outgrown.

Fire will burn you out of stagnant situations. Leave before you’re forced out.

Don’t ignore your instincts. When your gut says move, move. When it says run, sprint.

Don’t dim yourself for comfort. Yours or anyone else’s.

Don’t wait for permission. The Horse doesn’t ask. Neither should you.

It felt like the Universe was giving us an answer, or at least permission.

Permission to admit that maybe we’ve outgrown something.
Permission to stop tip-toeing.
Permission to dream out loud.

Facing Our Fears

There’s a particular kind of fear that shows up when life starts nudging you forward.

It whispers: Be reasonable. Be safe. Don’t risk what you have.

But faith doesn’t negotiate with fear. It doesn’t ask what’s convenient. It asks what’s true.

Faith burns away what’s dead. It forces movement. It exposes stagnation.

Because, if you stay too long in a place you’ve outgrown—physically, emotionally, spiritually—the fire will eventually make the decision for you.

Better to leave before you’re pushed.

Better to choose courage than wait for crisis.

Perfect Timing

I was also reminded a few weeks ago that we’re conditioned to think that transformation begins on January 1st, or New Years Day.

But that date is a human invention based on our artificial world system.

Those are just lines on a calendar that serve an economic system.

But, Nature keeps a different clock.

The real New Year begins in the Spring.

It’s when animals wake from hibernation.
When branches that looked dead reveal new buds.
When birds rebuild their nests.
When frozen ground softens and life presses upward, reaching for the sunlight again.

Renewal doesn’t begin in the dark of winter. It begins when something dormant stirs.

And, I have to say, I believe something is stirring.

March is when we will pack up our things.

April is when we will point our faces toward the West and begin again.

Your Big Step

There are seasons for rest. Seasons for healing. Seasons for retreat.

But there are also seasons for expansion.

For stepping fully into who you are without apology.

For trusting your instincts.

For refusing to wait for external validation before you act on internal clarity.

If the Year of the Fire Horse teaches us anything, it’s this: Waiting for permission is just another way of hiding.

So, maybe you’ve felt it too? That low hum beneath the surface of your life.

The quiet sense that something is ending.

Or beginning.

Or both.

Maybe you’ve outgrown something.

Maybe you’re ready to move—literally or metaphorically.

Maybe what looks like disruption is actually deliverance.

One way or the other, we are all approaching the season of renewal.

The timing feels perfect.

In March, we will pack up.

In April, we will travel toward whatever future is opening up before us.

And like the branches of a great tree stretching into open sky, we will rise, and stretch, and bloom.

Do you feel like it’s time for something new?

Don’t wait.

Quantum Theology: Volume One brings together an extraordinary and diverse group of scientists, mathematicians, theologians, mystics, authors, and cultural commentators to explore one of the most provocative conversations of our time: What happens when Quantum Physics and Theology begin to overlap?

Edited and curated by author Keith Giles, this book explores the intersection between science and faith.

My book, “The Quantum Gospel of Mary and the Lost Gospel of Truth” is now available on Amazon.

The book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>

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