One day closer
One week closer
One month closer
The shepherd, tired and weak, shielded his eyes from the
gusts of sand as he climbed yet another hill in the vast desert.
He did as he had done every day since setting out on this journey – peering as far he could into the distance ahead of him, he looked desperately for signs of the oasis that was his destination.
And like every day prior, his visioning led to
disappointment, with nothing but endless sand in view.
He walked on. Sheep bleating. Shepherd stick beating with a
rhythmic thud on the desert sand.
Around mid-day, with sun scorching, a terrible gust of wind
came blowing across the landscape. He could see it approaching from in front of
him. Airborne tunnels of sand served as the trumpeters announcing the impending
arrival of the king. In this case, the wind.
To this point, he had taken these moments head-on, not
wanting to waste time in his quest for the oasis.
But today, tired and weak, he made a different decision.
“I will not give the wind the satisfaction of slapping my
face today.”
With that, he stopped and turned away from the wind, so that
he was facing toward where he had been on this journey.
To the sheep’s and his surprise, he sat down.
Thud. Not a gentle landing.
Shepherd’s stick rattled until coming to a rest.
Sheep confused.
He assumed a fetal position. And began to weep.
No one knows how much time passed, but a good while later,
he awoke. The winds had battered his back and he noticed a stinging sensation
over his spine. Still sitting, the shepherd uncurled from the fetal position,
stretching his legs out in front of him. The wind has passed.
“I have beaten the wind today,” he sighed.
He gazed upon the rolling desert over which he had traveled
over the last days. And his mind began to wander.
Looking a good distance toward the horizon, he saw where he
had been a day earlier. He smiled.
Squinting still further, he could see where he had been this
same time last week. He smiled bigger.
And with his mind’s eye, he looked further still, to where
he had been exactly one month ago. You could now see his teeth with the smile.
“I am here. I can go on. My victory today is simply moving
forward, one step at a time.”
These words appeared to him.
He rose, shook off sand, and awakened the sheep. “Such lazy
animals,” he thought with a chuckle, turning back to face his unknown
destination.
His journey continued, but it was different now. There was
hope, even joy as he took each step forward toward the oasis. Yes, tiredness as
well.
And each day, around mid-day when the sun was scorching and
even if there was no headwind, he would turn 180 degrees to whence he had come
and say softly to himself and the sheep:
One day closer
One week closer
One month closer
