We’re All Winging It

“This week we will muse on some sayings in Charlie Mackesy’s book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.”

Recently I was introduced to the book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. It took me ten minutes to read it from cover to cover, but I could have sat with it for its hours of wisdom. Early in the book the horse says, “The truth is everyone is winging it.” Really? Don’t we plan every day, almost every hour of the day? Aren’t our calendars full? Don’t we have everything at least under a modicum of control? Who would dare to wing it? What could the horse mean?

Looking deeper at my calendar and schedules, I understand that there are many places to wing it. Every hour has its choices. Do I work with full intent and purpose? Do I pray wholeheartedly? Do I converse with my best communication skills? Do I play with abandon? At the end of the day, did the minutes and hours let God live in me? Did I let God’s grace influence me? Did I make the best decisions? Or did I cut corners, let opportunities for good pass by, and just mindlessly follow a routine? If so, I was just winging it.

On the other hand, knowing that nothing is in our control, that schedules easily become useless, that the best laid plans… well, that’s winging it. Once again, it all boils down to letting God live in me and trusting that God’s life will show through. Maybe that’s what Horse meant.