“A bored Boy tending Sheep cried “Wolf!” to get attention. He did it again and people came. A third time and the Boy was ignored. Goodbye flock.”
Last night was winter, down to the 20’s. Today we are back to fall. It is in the 40’s. There is a strong every now and then wind which blows all the leaves and pine needles across the deck and yard. I can’t even see the driveway. When the dogs run around the backyard, I can hear the leaves crackling.
Today I’m taking you back to Ghana for a bit.
When I first met the principal of my school, Georgina Intsiful, it was during training, after our live-ins, when we were to spend a week at each of our schools meeting our principals, seeing our houses and opening checking accounts. Mrs. Insitful drove a small blue car. She was a bit of an imposing woman, tall and broad. She sat up straight in that little car. When I was sitting outside one morning, she stopped at my house. She asked me if I had brought my Bible. When I was packing, a Bible had never come to mind. I was thinking more of sheets and towels. I told her that I hadn’t, but I had parts of it memorized. She didn’t say a word.
Sundays at my school started with a service in the cafeteria with lines of chairs and the tables removed. My students wore their formal clothes, three piece dresses with a top, bottom and a cloth around their waists. Each class wore a unique pattern made from Ghanaian cloth. The sermons were given by clerics from the different churches in town. I didn’t usually attend. One day, Georgina came and asked me to give the sermon the next Sunday. I said yes which I immediately regretted.
That week before my sermon I couldn’t figure out what to say. I dismissed sin, heaven and hell and everything in between. I figured those belonged to the churches. First, I chose the hymns then finally I figured out a sermon. It was based on an Aesop fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I talked about lying and liars who aren’t believed. I thought I was eloquent, but I suspect my principal wished I had brought a Bible.
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November 26, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Hi Kat,
The rain didn’t materialize and the sun shone most of the day. The high was a chilly 51°.
Sermons can take many forms and the story about the boy who cried wolf is as good as it gets. I’m sure there’s a biblical equivalent somewhere buried in both testaments. Maybe, “Thou shall not tell lies”, is the thirteenth of the fifteen commandments which were on the third tablet that Moses dropped while descending Mt. Sinai. Thank you Mel Brooks.
This world is a very crazy place. Maybe the deity is just sitting on a cloud and laughing hysterically as we kill, maim, and torture each other. Or, else maybe he or she created us and just left this universe while he or she created another universe next door. 🙂
November 26, 2023 at 11:10 pm
Hi Bob,
We warmed up as the day got on. Right now it is still warm, 48°. Tomorrow will be even warmer. I have to go out for a ew errands, and I am looking forward to a nice day.
I love Mel Brooks’ movies. I agree about the Boy Who Cried Wolf. In the Bible, there are plenty examples of lying. In the Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain killed his brother. God asked him where his brother was. Cain said he didn’t know! There are more but Cain and Abel came to mind.
The world is definitely getting crazier. I think God is getting ready to send another flood.
November 26, 2023 at 11:20 pm
We are stuck with climate change. Will that give us floods? Only the deity knows for sure. 🙂
November 27, 2023 at 12:55 am
Time to build the ark!