All we like sheep - Part 1

Once upon a time, in a land far away The Shepherd created a working-sheep farm to help the sheep of the arctic tundra. This farm, called Banana, is in a desolate land, a land where no one wants to go and few are brave enough to go. The winds blow bitter and cold throughout much of the year, and in season, the snow comes thick and heavy. The road to this farm is long and difficult to traverse, full of holes at baseline and heavily-peppered with snow drifts waiting to entrap vehicles on their way during the time of the snow. In such a harsh environment, the sheep of this land are hardy and strong. Suffering is no stranger to them. The diseases from the bitter cold and snow are rampant. To begin to alleviate some of this suffering, the sheep farm was created. 

The Shepherd calls dogs to help run the sheep farm. Some have specialized skills, most have willing hearts, and all have come as a result of The Shepherd’s call. The dogs come from far and wide, lands of warmth and mountains and beauty. The Shepherd called a Golden Retriever to help in this sheep farm. She left her home and friends and family to help direct the sheep and teach them more about the Shepherd. The Shepherd has vast numbers of farms to run in other lands and is terribly busy, but He reminded her that He is always merely a phone call away. She was encouraged that the tundra is not out of reach from Him.

The sheep on the farm make coats, wool coats and hats and scarves to help the sheep of the tundra. Without their work, many sheep would not be able to survive the harsh conditions. Their traditional covering did not often suffice. Sheep come to the farm and often need to stay days or weeks for improving their illnesses and gaining strength to return home. Supplies are few that far out into the tundra and the work is physically and emotionally challenging with the severity of the degraded state of the sheep who come for care. Despite this, over the years, the sheep farm had developed into quite a well-known farm. A farm so well known that, many sheep came from far to search for the healing and protection that these supplies provided.

This difficult land did not have many sheep farms and few had dogs to help direct the functions. In fact, many sheep in the farms of the arctic land were not getting paid at all. So those sheep decided that if they were not getting paid, then in turn, they were not going to work. So all throughout the land during the past year, the sheep of various farms went on strike, bringing even more sheep to Banana for care.

The Sheepdogs had run the sheep farm for many years and needed a break. So the Golden Retriever, and the Labrador she had met along the way of coming to the sheep farm, took charge of the farm. They did not feel experienced enough to run this farm. The sheep were volatile, and Retriever did not speak the language of the sheep very well. But she knew the Shepherd was ever present to help so she swallowed her fear and continued to labor.

And for a time, the labor continued on as before, after the departure of the sheepdogs. The Golden Retriever and Labrador labored on taking care of the functions of the farm and getting to know each other better. They had the help of Chow and surveyor sheep, both seasoned workers on the farm for a number of years. Chow and surveyor sheep guided Golden Retriever with the mechanics of how the farm functions.

One day Chow handed Golden Retriever a letter written by the sheep. The letter declared that Chow was mean to them, doing work outside of her scope of training, cutting their paychecks unfairly, secretly manipulating the prices of their products and a few other unfounded claims. Golden Retriever was taken aback, she and the sheepdogs had trusted Chow, the sheepdogs had found no evidence against her during her several years of work there. The letter ended with a menacing, “And the administration will be responsible for all that will happen 6 days from now if a solution is not found to this problem.” What did that mean? What was she to do? How could she convince the sheep to trust Chow and prove that Chow was innocent?

But the sheep did not give her time to formulate a plan. The very next day, two of the four rams who represented the sheep at large, called her to meet with the sheep responsible for the health of several sheep farms in the area, Medicine Sheep. Medicine Sheep demanded the Chow for her side of the story, then the two rams for theirs. The two rams adamantly reiterated that their unsigned letter represented the wishes of the sheep. However, Medicine Sheep had no patience for them and gave Chow a list of things to work on to conclude the meeting.

Several days later, during a busy day of work on the farm, Chow called Retriever to come immediately to the local authorities office. The rams were there with the letter. When Retriever and Labrador arrived, they entered a room full with a circle of several local authorities and rams staring at them angrily. Harsh words began to be hurled from all directions against Chow, who sat with her head down, frustrated and frowning. The meeting, as were all the interactions between the sheep, took place in the language of the sheep, which Retriever desperately tried to understand. She often felt so overwhelmed and lost.

Suddenly the direction of the hurled words changed and the hurtful words were lanced towards Golden Retriever for having allowed this situation at the sheep farm to have happened. Labrador’s hackles raised. He understood the language of the sheep much better than her and he began to try to block the word darts. But this only made the local authorities more upset until finally the circle quieted down and the meeting ended with a demand to Golden Retriever to take her responsibility more seriously of directing the farm.

With head bowed low, Golden Retriever and Labrador plodded back to the farm. How were they to quench the fires of fury that were only blazing hotter and hotter through the desert brush? Retriever felt the heat of the flames burning around her with no sight of water in any direction. How was she to “take her responsibility?” How was she to lead these sheep? How was she to remind them they were working for The Shepherd and to focus on caring for the destitute sheep of their land?

So Retriever and Labrador continued to work, until the day of the follow-up meeting with Medicine Sheep. Along with Chow and two rams, they met discussed all the points of the letter that were largely invalid and the few items that could be improved. The rams raised their heads high and shook their horns in the faces of Chow and Retriever, refusing to accept any of the work that Chow had done. Medicine Sheep, however, was satisfied with Chow’s work and the meeting concluded. 

Retriever returned to work and began visiting the sheep who had recently delivered baby sheep and needed clothes for themselves and their babies. Suddenly the sheep in charge of this area received a phone call from the rams, who, she said, demanded her presence. Retriever continued working, until she, too, received a phone call, though hers from the surveyor sheep. Surveyor sheep said all the sheep workers had gathered and refused to work and could she come meet them? Retriever’s heart quickened as she hurried to the meeting place. When she arrived, she saw not just the workers sitting together with hatred on their faces, but a crowd of nearly 200 other sheep from the community with angry faces also. 

What was the purpose of this mob? Where were the guard sheep who were supposed to monitor the gates of the sheep farm? How could she control this situation?

But this decision was not one granted for her to make, as soon a group of soldier sheep burst onto the scene with large guns in their hooves. Just behind the came the local authorities, the same who had attacked her a few days prior. They demanded to meet with her immediately. Retriever sat in a circle with them as they shook their hooves in her face and told her it was her fault for allowing this chaos to overtake the sheep farm. The sheep of the land desperately needed care from the sheep farm, they correctly stated. As the sheep workers were now refusing to work because of the Chow’s presence, however, the authorities told Retriever she had to force Chow not to work to keep the peace on the farm. How could she allow the entire sheep farm to not function because of one dog? Retriever was trapped. In the presence of all the local authorities, the police with their guns, and the mob of 200 sheep inside the farm grounds, could she be foolish enough to tell the local authorities they had no right to force her paws like this?

Dejectedly Retriever knocked on Chow’s office door and explained the situation to her. She guided Chow back to her house, walking through the crowd of sheep who shot a battery of hate-filled stares at them like arrows. The sheep workers were triumphant and returned to their work. And Retriever had no choice but to return and work with them. Day and night they called her to help them. The nights of undisturbed slumber were few, though fewer still were those of peaceful rest.

That night Retriever paced through her house. She looked around at the furnishings purchased by her family back in her homeland. What love was represented by all inside this simple but functional house! Now was she to leave it all? Or was it to be burned to the ground by the next angry mob in the hospital? What lengths would the sheep go to in order to get what they wanted? And what did they really want anyways? So she packed all the belongings she felt she needed most and left the bag at the door, in case the need to flee blew strongly like the arctic wind sweeping across the barren tundra.

The tension at the sheep farm was high, even with Chow not present there. Retriever continued to work, trying her best to give the care she had come to this land to provide, but all the while consumed with stress and worry. She was so new to this work and needed the help of Chow to run the farm in the absence of the sheepdogs. She and Labrador banded together and spent long hours calling The Shepherd for guidance.

A few days later, the surveyor sheep requested to talk. He kindly explained that the head Ram had come to him. The head Ram threatened him that if he and Retriever continued to support Chow, they would be the next ones to be forced out of the farm. This came as not a surprise to Retriever, as she had already feared her head would be next on the chopping block, and only confirmed her suspicions. She began to understand that bush of evil now growing in the sheep farm had roots much deeper than what could be seen on the surface.