One day, the disciples overheard some angry debate behind the closed
doors of a church in Cwmcarn, Wales.
Afterwards, they came to the Master and asked, ‘Teacher, are not love
and unity of God’s people the highest good?’
There was pain on the Master’s face when he replied, ‘A certain
shepherd had an unruly flock. He came to
the sheep and asked what it was all about.
Some said, ‘We are birds, but this other group says we are sheep. We may look like sheep, at least for the time
being, but our identity is decidedly avian.
They are very unkind to us, insisting that we are sheep when we want to
be called birds.’
‘The shepherd said to the sheep, ‘Let us continue to talk, to hear from
each other, and to listen. We shall find
love and unity in our flock once again through dialogue, and that is the
highest good.’ So the sheep bleated out
their concerns and pain one after the other, and the shepherd made sure that
everyone had a chance to share with all the others. He stated how pleased he was that everyone was
heard, and the sheep commended him for being such a good facilitator.
‘The next day, the shepherd was leading the sheep on a mountain pass
and came to a steep cliff. ‘Ha!’ said
the group identifying as birds, and they tweeted to each other. ‘We shall show you that we are birds!’ Thereupon they leapt off the cliff. The remaining sheep shivered in horror as
they watched the other sheep plummet to their deaths.’
‘Now,’ said the Teacher, ‘what shall we make of this facilitating shepherd
who placed unity and love higher than the truth?’ The disciples thought and thought. Finally, Peter said, ‘Why didn’t the birds
flap their wings?’
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