This was sent to me on an e-mail list to which I belong. I think we can all relate to it in one way or another.
The Day The Lambs Roared
From: [email protected] (Bo Jones)The Day The Lambs Roared
Picture if you will, going for a walk in a beautiful forest along a winding
path. As the graveled walkway gently descends you realize you are coming to a
picturesque mountain valley. As you get closer to the clearing you notice a
broad field covered by thousands of sheep. From a distance it looks almost
like a paradise, the rolling green meadow with the towering mountains all
about, it seems like it is almost perfect.As you amble closer to the flock you sense something is not right. It is one
of those things that you feel at first but then a slow realization prickles
down the back of your neck. What is it? Throughout this valley with literally
thousands of lambs there is a total silence. How could this be?You draw closer and then you notice other things. The lambs appear to be
abused. Some are underfed and appear to be weak, others seem to have massive
scars across their bodies, yet others just lay there and do not move, it is
as if they have lost a will to live. What is even more bizarre is that you
notice many have destroyed their lives by trying to swim a large river that
runs through the valley and its banks are strewn with small lifeless bodies?Then you see them, well dressed, clean cut and well fed, it is the shepherds.
They have an air about them, they seem firmly in command. It is not long
after this discovery you find the reason the lambs are silent. Across the
valley comes a small bleat, a lamb has managed to pin itself between two
rocks, it is in trouble and needs help. It seems to be almost in an instant
that three shepherds rush over and begin beating the lamb with their staffs.You try to shout stop! Don't do that! But it is to no avail, this one will
not make it, it is to late. It is then you realize the shepherds heard your
shouts and are moving toward you, now you fear for your own safety. You begin
a swift walk to get away, but they sped up their pace. You begin to run but
they are gaining and then at that moment something happens. A small ram steps
between you and the shepherds and with all his might makes a sound that
betrays his anger, his pain, and frustration for living a life of fear.The shepherds are startled at first and the other sheep look at the little
ram like he is crazy, but the shepherds quickly move to end the problem and
gather around him, this is surely the end, but across the valley comes
another sound much like the first except this one is even more piercing, it
has the sound akin to a woman's scream and again the shepherds divide their
number to address the problem. But then there is another but it is deeper and
has the sense of rage unleashed at that very moment. Then another weaker but
no less angry, then another, another, another and soon the sound is reaching
across the valley. Each lamb starts lending their voice and the sound starts
to become deafening.The shepherds are rolling on the ground holding their ears in pain, but the
sound continues to rise, louder and louder until the mountains around start
to shake, rocks and boulders come tumbling down and yet the sound continues
to grow. Trees are shattered and the river is dried up as the mountain begins
to fill it. Yet still the sound continues to grow.. You fall to the ground and
hang on for dear life as a massive earthquake rocks the entire valley.
Everything is flattened and you think it is never going to end. As the earth
moves you are hit by a tree branch and knocked unconscious.Finally, you awaken and are amazed to see what lies before you. No barriers,
the mountains are no more, the shepherds are gone, swallowed by the earth and
no longer a threat, the river is just a gentle stream now with easy access.
Then you notice the lambs, they were a bit worse for the wear, battered,
bruised, and still scarred, but different. They moved freely now among one
another on a long level plain.It was not just the movement it was the sound, soft bleats and gentle baas
waft across the land. They seemed to have a sense of direction as the flock
moved away as one. It was true they were not cured of their ills, they do not
have great security as before, as to what their new life would be, they did
not know, what they do know is that they would never live again as a silent
lamb.