April 14
Richard Smith led the discussion.
This beautiful 1979 film explores the story of a young boy’s relationship with a spirited black stallion. Their friendship is born when both are stranded on a deserted island. It ultimately leads them to a race to determine the fastest horse in the world.
Comments? Please!
Trinity Adult Formation 
Further reflections on The Black Stallion:
For me, the island was indeed a place where the relationship between Alec and Black was allowed to occur which carried with it an innocence with Eden qualities. The island also had elements which tested the relationship, yet at the same time enhanced those Eden qualities – the storm with accompanying lightning, the unbinding of Black from the tangle of ropes, the search for food; and the encounter with the cobra. So, in this way, the island acted as a crucible where through the experiencing of trials and the following of the clue of ‘nothing’ led to the relationship with its life-giving qualities. In the return home – those same qualities I feel gave ‘life’ to others. The mother in the regaining of her son, the former jockey who lived alone with a pastime of playing solitaire coming into relationship with Alec and Black, the encounter with the sage, Snoe (which I imagined – with no proof – the demeanor and style of the Melchizedek prophet in Genesis), and his horse, Napoleon; and the school girl in the producing of her poem – all to me were examples of ‘resurrections.’ I think in cinematic terms, the removal of the hat during the race by Alec visually represented the bringing back of those life-giving qualities found on the island into the community where they now lived. As I shared that evening, this story – this film was a salvific, life-giving encounter in my own personal life at a time of great bewilderment as to my vocation in life.
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