Sleeping With Bread #2

So as Sleeping with Bread for me symbolizes hope, I'm going to tell you a little story with a hopeful, though not yet resolved ending.  Any similarities to anything going on in my life are purely coincidental.  Purely.  Coincidental.  Really.

Once upon a time there was an old shepherd.  The old shepherd had worked his entire life herding many different flocks across the fields and meadows.  He was a good shepherd and he knew how to protect his flock,.  He knew when they needed to be fed and he knew when they needed to drink.  He knew just how many sheep he had and because he paid such close attention to his flock, there was never a chance for one of the sheep to go missing.  But the old shepherd knew more about his flock than just what their basic needs were.  For example, he knew that Cindy Sheep was having problems with her eldest lamb, Sam.  He also knew that Savannah Sheep was helping to care for her aging father, Simon Sheep, and that she was struggling with this while trying to raise two lambs of her own. 

You see, the old shepherd took the time to get to know his flock; he listened to them twice as much as he spoke to them.  When he did speak to them, his voice was gentle and caring and when he listened to them, he listened wholeheartedly.  He heard the things that they were saying and he read what was left unsaid in their eyes.  He loved his flock very much and his flock loved him as well.  They knew that they were safe and cared for and in return for all the things the old shepherd did for them, they gave back to him tenfold.

The old shepherd stayed with his flock one last spring, watching the wildflowers burst into colorful life upon the hills.  He stayed through the summer and fall, and just as winter began, he knew it was time for him to move on.  He was old and he was tired and though he loved his flock, he knew that they would benefit from someone new who had more energy.

The flock was saddened deeply by the loss of their dear friend, yet they still waited with excited anticipation for their new shepherd.  They had heard he received top honors in shepherding school and they were very pleased that he was coming to care for their flock.  They had dreamed of this new shepherd being the one who would come to them because they had heard such great things about him.

But dreams and reality have a way of not turning out exactly as the dreamers hope they might.  Yes, the new shepherd did come to the flock and they greeted him happily and he smiled and went about herding them.  He spoke to them often about herding and sheep and other matters that he found to be of great importance, and perhaps those matters truly were important.  But the sheep were greatly troubled for though their shepherd spoke to them, he never really listened to them.  Cindy Sheep continued to struggle with her lamb, Sam, but the new shepherd never even knew there were any problems.  Savannah carried on her burden with nary a word of encouragement and it made her terribly sad.  She felt so alone and she missed the old shepherd and how he knew the right words to say to make her burden feel not so overwhelming.

The sheep began to withdraw from the shepherd, feeling hurt that he didn't seem to care about each one of them as the old shepherd had.  Twas true that the new shepherd knew a lot about tending to a herd, but he really didn't have any idea of how to relate to each individual sheep and he seemed to lack a will to try.  Some of the sheep wandered off and the shepherd never noticed they were missing because he was so busy talking and planning ways that he could better himself as a shepherd.  Some of the sheep tried to talk to him, but the shepherd never really seemed to be listening to anything they were saying.  The flock withdrew further.

In their woolly hearts, the sheep were hoping that maybe their new shepherd would realize what was happening and what was missing in their relationship between him and them.  The sheep wanted that sense of family that they'd had with the old shepherd, the one who had walked beside them, instead of in front them, never bothering to turn around to see if they were following.  The new shepherd ministered to his flock but not to each sheep; he didn't even know all of their names.  The sheep felt lost, insignificant, and not worthy of being noticed or cared for.  They didn't want their new shepherd to pander to their every whim, they simply wanted to feel a sense of belonging.

The flock still watch the new shepherd from afar.  They hear him speak and they hope that one day he will learn to listen.  They still have their hope.  They still sleep with bread.

To be continued at a later date....