Parable of the Sheep (re posted)

Once a time, I had no shepherd.

I wandered across the vast plains and did as I pleased.

I did all my heart desired and never did it cease.

My days were a blur of life that passed by in a fly.

Until once in that time, I fell into a pit I had failed to evade.

The pit was dark and tall, it was as tall as my eyes could see.

I called but no one came, much to my extreme disbelief.

The emotions welled up inside and swirling and twirling, did I cry.

So staying in that hole did I, hiding, crying with stained tears on my face.

So I had no one to accompany me but my thoughts in this place.

I thought of good and bad, life and death and true and false in every way.

“Life”, did I say, “is like a box of chocolates about to expire in twenty minutes.”

I reasoned that life cannot escape death.

I saw how the fool and wise die alike, despite how much they had to face.

I thought that there seemed to be no purpose to life because death seemed to erase it all.

The violins of wisdom wavered with sorrow in my mind as I sat in deep thought, staring at the walls.

Live and die, I thought, is that there is all to it?

Put in your own two cents and just die and quit?

So my life became more sorrowful than before, it became darker as I sat in the pit.

The stars seemed to no longer shine above me, seeing how sad I seemed to be.

I became tired of sitting in a pit, so I called out with all my voice could take.

I cried and screamed drenched in tears, my life, hopes and dreams were at stake.

But in the darkness, a Man called out and a rope fell down.

“Tie it around you and I’ll pull you up”, He said with a call that was so profound.

I bleated weakly in fear of falling but He replied, “Trust me please”.

So I did as He told and when I reached the top, I noticed His face.

It was kind and soft but with many scars, He held a shepherd’s staff, too.

“I found a lost sheep who called out to me”, He said in joyful glee at me, “Would you like to join my flock of sheep?”

I replied in a soft bleat of yes, how could I not agree? He saved me!

He told me His name was Immanuel, and as He did I saw there were many sheep behind his feet.

So follow His feet did I, and as I talked with my fellow sheep, a favorite name they liked to call Him was The Shepherd of Peace.

I followed Him across hills and valleys and even through dark nights.

When we were afraid, He comforted us with His lamp and staff being ever so kind.

Even when one was missing He went and found the one that was lost.

I soon found out that this Shepherd would never leave even in the worst of storms, even in the darkest of nights, He never would leave us for all time.

As we traveled along, I saw another flock of sheep.

They seemed to be in happiness but their coats was dirty.

They stopped to stare at us in utter disbelief whilst we followed after The Shepherd’s feet.

So I came up to talk with these sheep.

“Who is your shepherd?” I asked.

To which they replied, “Me.”

But when I looked around, I saw a tall, skinny man in dark robes standing from afar.

He was quite different from my Shepherd because mine wore robes of light.

He held many strings that held the other sheep and he let them do as they pleased.

His sheep got dirty and ran all day doing many various things that was displayed but still hurt themselves anyway.

Some fell in pits, some danced in flames, some fell from exhaustion only to get up again, whilst others went insane.

I told these sheep about the strings holding them but they told me I was crazy.

Some told me they had theories disproving that, some did not care and loved what they did and so they went to do it all over again.

So I gave up almost in tears and went to follow after The Shepherd of Peace.

Some sheep tried to follow me but could not for the sting prevented them from doing so.

They bleated loudly as they struggled to be free.

The Shepherd of Peace noticed this and went to cut the string.

The other Dark Shepherd tried to stop this, but all the while he seemed afraid of Him.

He tried to entice the caught sheep to do as they pleased.

It was too late for pleas now because the sheep realized that Dark Shepherd’s “Free”

was not free indeed.

So the Shepherd of Peace set them free and as you can see, He is the true Shepherd of the Free.

So whenever I pass by other sheep, I ask,

“Who is your shepherd?”

To which they all replied with the thing they loved the most.

And the One I love the most is Jesus, the Immanuel, as you clearly see.

Who is your shepherd?

S.W