A shepherd was bringing his flock to shelter when he counted them and saw that one ewe was missing, so he asked his fellow shepherds to keep his flock safe while he went to search for the missing ewe.

And lo! the shepherd found that the missing ewe had fallen into a pit, and the shepherd descended into the pit to help the ewe get out - but the shepherd stumbled and fell and was sorely hurt, and was unable to get back up, but the ewe was able to scramble over the shepherd and out of the pit, and returned to the flock's usual shelter for the night.

Now when the lost ewe returned the other shepherds asked among themselves, "The lost ewe has returned, but where is our friend? Why has he not returned?"

So the others sent out a party to search for the lost shepherd, and they found him lying in the pit injured, so they pulled the shepherd out of the pit and dressed his wounds, and they carried him back to town rejoicing, saying "Our friend who was lost is safe with us again!"

If there is rejoicing when one sheep is saved, how much more rejoicing will there be when a shepherd who is lost and injured is found and restored to health?

When the shepherd was restored, he and his friends returned and filled in the pit so that no more sheep might fall into it.




Baldur