Just simple sheep..!
Robert Clements
Friday, October 14, 2011 - Every day I hear a rustle in the bushes just outside the window from where I pen this column and I know the sheep have come.
Very often I peer out at them and must confess have thought of them as slightly dumb as they walk aimlessly, saying Ba, ba, without any cause or reason and push each other search of grass and shrubs and following their shepherd blindly. But last evening I heard about two world leaders who had different experiences with sheep: Gladstone was on a holiday in Scotland, walking down a country lane when a storm came up.
The snow began to fall and the wind howled. As he walked along he noticed the sheep coming up out of the hollows and from underneath the trees going to stand in the bare hillsides facing the storm. A little later he met the shepherd and said to him, “Aren’t sheep the most foolish animals in the world? Here is a storm pending and instead of remaining in shelter they are courting the fury of the blast. If I were a sheep I would remain in the hollow.”
The old shepherd, “Saar, if ye were a sheep, ye’d have more sense” Then he pointed to Mr Gladstone that down in the hollows, drifts came and along with it, death. Instinctively the sheep knew their only safety was on the hills, facing the storm!” The other story is about General Garibaldi: One day the general met a Sardinian shepherd who had lost a lamb out of his flock and was in deep distress because he could not find it. Garibaldi became deeply interested in the man and proposed to his soldiers that they should scour the mountains and help find the lost sheep.
A search was organized.Lanterns were brought and the hardy soldiers started off full of eagerness to look for the fugitive. The quest was in vain and by and by the men returned to their quarters empty handed. Next day Garibaldi’s attendant found the General fast asleep long after his usual hour of rising. The worried servant aroused him at length and the General finally rubbed his eyes, then took from his bed coverings the lost lamb bidding his attendant carry it to the shepherd.
Garibaldi had kept on with the search through the night until he had found the lamb. This morning I looked from my window and found myself respecting those what I had thought were dumb sheep; I realized they have more than I have to face adversity head on and have also taught me through the Garibaldi story that pressing on when all others have given up, brings success..!
—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com
Very often I peer out at them and must confess have thought of them as slightly dumb as they walk aimlessly, saying Ba, ba, without any cause or reason and push each other search of grass and shrubs and following their shepherd blindly. But last evening I heard about two world leaders who had different experiences with sheep: Gladstone was on a holiday in Scotland, walking down a country lane when a storm came up.
The snow began to fall and the wind howled. As he walked along he noticed the sheep coming up out of the hollows and from underneath the trees going to stand in the bare hillsides facing the storm. A little later he met the shepherd and said to him, “Aren’t sheep the most foolish animals in the world? Here is a storm pending and instead of remaining in shelter they are courting the fury of the blast. If I were a sheep I would remain in the hollow.”
The old shepherd, “Saar, if ye were a sheep, ye’d have more sense” Then he pointed to Mr Gladstone that down in the hollows, drifts came and along with it, death. Instinctively the sheep knew their only safety was on the hills, facing the storm!” The other story is about General Garibaldi: One day the general met a Sardinian shepherd who had lost a lamb out of his flock and was in deep distress because he could not find it. Garibaldi became deeply interested in the man and proposed to his soldiers that they should scour the mountains and help find the lost sheep.
A search was organized.Lanterns were brought and the hardy soldiers started off full of eagerness to look for the fugitive. The quest was in vain and by and by the men returned to their quarters empty handed. Next day Garibaldi’s attendant found the General fast asleep long after his usual hour of rising. The worried servant aroused him at length and the General finally rubbed his eyes, then took from his bed coverings the lost lamb bidding his attendant carry it to the shepherd.
Garibaldi had kept on with the search through the night until he had found the lamb. This morning I looked from my window and found myself respecting those what I had thought were dumb sheep; I realized they have more than I have to face adversity head on and have also taught me through the Garibaldi story that pressing on when all others have given up, brings success..!
—Email:bobsbanter@gmail.com
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