This morning I was thinking about our family’s farm down in Missouri and got to recalling about times moving cattle from one pasture to another, our family on foot herding the cattle down the blacktop county road. I recall the challenge was always whether the cattle would cross the one vehicle wide bridge or whether they’d instead take the more difficult path of going around the bridge, down, and across the creek. My Dad thought that if we could get the eldest cow to cross the bridge, that the others would follow. But cattle can be so unpredictable, perhaps because they are so skittish. Seems like I recall that even if we did get a few to cross, that others still wound up going around and crossing the creek instead and perhaps a couple (usually calves) would skittishly wander away from the herd at that point as well, so that one of us would need to try to get them back with the herd. It could be rather chaotic. And then add to the mix at times if our dog Sandy wound arrive on the scene, presumably thinking she was helping, while instead adding distraction and more chaos. Moving cattle was rarely a smooth process.
Then I got to thinking about how people can be like this as well. Here we are going along on the road of life, and it matters who we follow. If we follow some, we may cross an easier, more straightforward path in life. If we follow others, we may sidetrack to a more difficult path. If we become confused and distracted from having any leader, we may wind up lost. And along the way, there may be some that just add chaos to our lives, with no apparent direction at all.
People and animals, we aren’t so different after all.
It matters who you follow.
To read more of Jo Gamm Witt's writings, CLICK HERE
