Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. NKJV
Quiet Querencias
Hemmingway in his 1932 published book ‘Death in The Afternoon,' writes a treatise on the source and descriptions of courage and fear, through the spectacle of the Spanish Bullfight and in so doing, highlights the most dangerous place for the Matador in his attempt at slaughter, and that is, the Querencia.There are in effect three phases to a Bullfight:
First, the ‘Levantado,’ where the giant bull arrives on the scene, proud and angry, its giant neck holding high its impaling horns. At this point the bull’s mighty musculature of a neck is lanced repeatedly by the Picadors and the sharp knives of the razor Banderilleros. The bleeding neck muscles cause the bull to slowly lower its horns.
The second phase is the ‘Parado’ where the bull is now slowed and kept at bay.
Eventually the slaughter moves to the final phase of the ‘Aplomado’ where the exhausted bull, transfixed now on but one red object straight ahead, is thrust through by the matador, his sword plunging down through the centre of the sorry bulls now tired neck, severing in two its pumping heart. The crowd cheers, roses and seats are thrown in the arena, people applaud profusely!
In each stage the fighting bull will keep returning to one particular point in the ring; that one point of constant return is its ‘Querencia,’ its defendable position of felt safety. All animals and all humans have this kind of returned position, this home as it were, this defendable place of felt safety. It is said that if the Matador tries to kill the bull whilst it is in its ‘Querencia,’ then undoubtedly the matador will be badly gored, even killed. The Matador’s intent then, is always to get the bull out of its ‘Querencia.’
Friends tonight this bullfighting picture may be a very uncomfortable contemplation, but never the less a very necessary one. If the devil is the Matador that plays us each to death, then let us note that we each have our Querencia, our defendable place of felt safety. This is a place from which we gain sustenance, from which we gain strength, from which we gain respite from the heat of our days. Your personal Querencia may be a physical place, it may be an occupation, it may be a group of acquaintances, or it may be as simple as a hot bath or as profound as a week in a monastery, but for you it is your Querencia!
Get there regularly for be sure of this: If you are tired, bloodied and with your head and horns down and not in your Querencia, then the devil is out to kill you and it will be by a piercing through your heart.
Listen: - For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavillion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; (Psalms 27:5-6 NKJV)
Pray:- Oh lead me, to the place where I can find You. Oh lead me to the place where You will be. Lead me to the Cross, where we first met, draw me to my knees, so we can talk. Let me feel your breath, let me know you're here with me. Oh lead me , to the place where I can find You. (Delerious)
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