Triple Crown: The Ultimate Divine Guide

Winning the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing remains one of the hardest feats in all of sport, the ultimate test of equine greatness. While horses like American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018) broke the modern dry spells, the immense difficulty of capturing all three classic races—run over different distances in a grueling timeframe—perpetuates the aura of exclusivity.

As we look ahead to the 2026 Triple Crown series, starting with the Kentucky Derby on May 2, continuing with the Preakness Stakes on May 16, and concluding with the marathon Belmont Stakes on June 6, the enduring question remains: what separates a casual competitor from a historic champion? Why do some horses seem to possess a hidden wellspring of speed, power, and stamina that others lack?

The answer begins within the horse itself—a fusion of its unique spirit and its finely-tuned genetic blueprint. Yet, biology alone is not destiny. Inherited potential is merely dormant until realized. To bridge the gap between innate capacity and champion performance, these Thoroughbreds require dedicated external support: the strategic genius of expert trainers and the tactical brilliance of skillful jockeys to activate, refine, and maximize their inner powers.

This dynamic of inherent capability requiring external activation is also central to the human experience. Born human, we have profound capacities to love, learn, choose, create, and find meaning. But potential alone is a seed that cannot grow in isolation. We depend on parents, teachers, mentors, and friends to activate and cultivate these raw abilities so that we can approach our full human potential. This dependency reveals why we require the Holy Spirit and why Jesus promised to provide us with the ultimate divine guide: “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete – to be with you always; to remain with you and be within you.”

1976 Campaign Commercials

Responding to the Spirit

When Jimmy Carter was running for President of the United States, one of the more vivid moments in the campaign passed by almost unnoticed. One Sunday morning, candidate Carter had been worshiping at the Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. When the service was over, he exited the church into the swarm of press encamped on the church’s front lawn. Cameras whirring, video lights glaring, microphones thrust forward, the media mavens moved in for interviews, pushing themselves to think of clever questions to ask a presidential candidate on the way out of a Southern Baptist Church — “Did you like the sermon?” “Did you enjoy the choir this morning?” “Do you plan to remain a Baptist in Washington?” — on and on the banal questions spewed. Suddenly, a reporter, probably in a stroke of luck, shouted out a question that genuinely mattered: “Mr. Carter, suppose when you are President, you get into a situation where the laws of the United States are in conflict with what you understand to be the will of God. Which will you follow, the laws of the state or the Commandments of God?” Carter stopped, looked up, and blinked into the bright Georgia sun, obviously turning the question over in his mind. Then, perhaps still “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” perhaps with the Spirit gently whispering the lyrics of the Gospel into his ears, he turned toward the reporter and replied: “I would obey the Commandments of God.” Alert aides, alarmed by this candor, unnerved by their candidate’s near-treasonous remark, hurriedly whisked him away from the press and into a waiting car.

Carter the politician should have avoided the question, or hewed closely to the law of the land, but Carter the Christian had the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ whispering in his ear, “Do you love Me? The world cannot see or know Me, but do you love Me? Do you keep My Commandments?

Historical Origins of the Hymn & the Tune

Many of you know the story behind one of America’s best loved hymns, “It is well with my soul.” Horatio Spafford was a wealthy businessman from Chicago. However, the Chicago fire of 1871 wiped Spafford out financially. A couple of years later Spafford’s wife and four children were traveling to Europe when their ship collided with another ship. The four children perished, while Anna survived. She later sent Horatio a telegram with these two words, “Saved Alone.” Spafford, heartbroken and sad caught a boat to be with his wife. It was on that voyage that he wrote:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like a sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like a sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.