~The Valley of Tradition
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~The Valley of Tradition |
There
were numerous sheep in the fold and they had become like family.  They
felt secure and peaceful. Occasionally a new sheep
would be born and the shepherd would proudly exhibit him to the family.
Sometimes sheep would
come from other flocks
and join them. These were accepted when their habits were like those long
established by this sheepfold. In this way,
the fold grew. The family of sheep loved being together and they loved grazing
in their pleasant pastureland
together. They had become
quite comfortable . These sheep lived in the Valley of Tradition. It was a cozy little valley with mountains ascending high on either
side. Everyone talked about how beautiful the mountains were and
sometimes they heard about other sheep who lived on
various elevations of the mountain. Occasionally some of the mountain
sheep and their shepherds would visit the valley fold,
and although they admired the visitors, they never accepted
their invitation to join them in the higher places. The visiting sheep explained to the members of the valley
fold that they used to live in a similar valley, but had been led
by their shepherds to their new homes. They tried to explain that
they understood how pleasant it was to just enjoy their comfort
and not to have to undergo the temporary discomfort of moving upward to
higher and greener pastures. They said that they
too had had their doubts until they finally moved on despite their
feelings. They explained that soon after they had moved on up,
the feeling of discomfort subsided and soon they had felt right
at home. And they told them how the main shepherd, who
was over all the other shepherds, had even begun to show up more and more
often as they had moved up to higher pastures. They
told how wonderful he was and how well he treated them. They
couldn't seem to find enough words of praise for the main
shepherd. He even walks among us, they said. And
he gets to know and care for each of us personally rather than the way
it used to be when we could see him only from a distance. The
visitors said there was far less disagreement and much
greater harmony between all the sheep who were moving with their
shepherds up the mountain. But it seemed there was no way of getting
the valley sheep to understand and to motivate them
to move on. They just could not see that there really were greener
and more wonderful pastures than in the Valley of Tradition.The farthest away the family of sheep had traveled was
when their shepherd took them once a year to Revival Hill for a short
visit, and then, after a brief stay, they traveled back again to
their little valley. After each trek they did discuss among themselves the
blessedness of their visit to Revival Hill. But no one seemed
to want to move even there. At last the main shepherd told the valley shepherd that he
should go ahead and lead the flock up higher anyway. But some of
the sheep then stubbornly locked their knees and refused
to go. "You don't understand", their shepherd told them, "the storms
are coming, and we are in a very vulnerable position.
The main shepherd has said that he has been trying to get us to move
up so we will be closer to him and therefore more protected
from the effects of the storms." The sheep wouldn't budge. Listen, is that thunder I hear?
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