Imprinting

One of the interesting things I heard at the women’s retreat was I. P. talking about her horses being imprinted.  The horses which drew the cutter we rode in were young.  They followed the commands almost flawlessly.  M. had even put a saddle on and ridden one for the first time with no problems.  They had been imprinted – the P’s had caressed them, blown into their faces  – had been intimately close to them since birth – and now the horses knew them and they knew the horses.  Brought up rememberances of the movie “The Horse Whisperer”.

Last night my daughter, who is working on finishing her essay for Philosophy, called.  She spoke about the “ought” word and how it kept bringing to mind a chorus I used to sing when she was just small – “Everybody Ought To Know”.

Everybody ought to know
Everybody ought to know
Everybody ought to know
Who Jesus is.   (repeat)

He’s the Lily of the Valley
He’s the bright and morning star
He’s the fairest of ten thousand
Everybody ought to know.

I guess some of the things we imprint on our kids minds stay there and emerge later at seemingly strange times – with word associations, peoples actions, etc. 

I think (and pray) that I have imprinted enough God things on my kids minds that they will  be able to recognise his voice when he whispers in their ears.