Shepherd Short Story

There once was a boy, a young man really, his name, age, or where he resided are not of importance; but he was a human, living on this earth. The boy was a shepherd, looking after over 200 sheep all alone in the middle of nowhere. The flock and the young shepherd had taken shelter underneath an old stone church with a broken down roof for the night. It was a clear night and the boy lay among the sheep, listening to the soft gusts of wind produced by the sheep breathing. This is what he lived for, as he looked into the sky and saw the millions of stars shining down on him he felt a great sense of awe, like there was so much beauty in the universe it was undeniable there was a God. So many questions raced through the shepherd’s mind: “Is it wrong

Questions from the previous night still making their way around his brain. As the rest of the flock awoke and the sun peeked over the horizon the young man contemplated everything around him and even his own existence. He pondered the question of expecting joy first. See, the boy had never expected joy it had just always been, when he looked at his sheep he was filled with joy. The shepherd had spent all of his hard earned money on that flock, it was his prized possession. When he looked at the flock he saw his success, he saw his future and his past, he saw what his life calling was. As the boy looked over his flock he was filled with contentment, it did not feel like a sin to be happy. But at the same time the boy knew if even one of his flock was taken from him he would be very dissatisfied, he looked to and counted on those animals for

The herdsman rose at a leisurely pace, putting out the quickly dying coals and packing his few belongings into his knapsack. The town was fairly close and the boy found no reason to make haste. On his walk he contemplated the second question he had asked himself that night, “Is there more to life than just happiness and joy, even found in God?”. To the boy the answer was obvious, life is a very complex series of events and to say that one thing is the reason for living was absurd to the young herdsman. Even happiness found in serving the Lord is fleeting, it will not last longer than you are doing the service. Joy found in earthly pleasure is temporary when you take away the pleasure you take away the happiness. True satisfaction is found by putting your faith in God and relying on him, no one can ever take God away from you, that is the one constant you will ever have. Humans and animals die and one day the earth will soon rot away to nothing but the one true God is