The Parable of Two Shepherds

       The landlord planned of leaving for a far off place. But before doing so, he saw to it that everything in his ranch are well taken cared of.

For his flock, he hired a couple of shepherd. He called them by their name and entrusted to them his beloved sheep. "Please take care of my sheep until my return", he implored each one of them. Then he set forth on a journey into that far off place.

On their first day alone with the flock, the elder of the two called for a meeting. He informed the other shepherd of his plan. The younger one however found the plan too conservative and presented what he thought was a better, radical and contemporary way of pasturing the flock. The discussion progressed for hours without the two reaching a consensus. A recess was agreed upon and the two shepherds have their lunch--separately, I should tell you, for even in such thing as lunch they could not agree what meals to have. After their siesta, the meeting resumed and their arguments became heated and loud that the hungry sheep below became restless and agitated. By vespers, the two were already resolved of dividing the flock into two groups so to show off to each other that he is the better man to do the job. The evening was cold and they were too tired for the night prayer so they called it a day. Their first day.

On the next day, each of the shepherds was up and about to lead the starving sheep into the greener pasture. The elder of the two declared that he will will guide his flock into the lush field by the river and suggested to the younger that the other flock shall be led up into the hill. The younger protested and suggested the other way around. The squabble progressed for hours without the two reaching a consensus. A recess was agreed upon and the two shepherds have their lunch--again separately, I should tell you, for even in such thing as lunch they could not agree what meals to have. After their siesta, the meeting resumed and soon, another heated and loud argument broke out and the starving sheep scattered everywhere, restless and agitated. By vespers, the two were ready to resolve the disagreement through a toss coin, but a coin they do not have. So they left their famished sheep in the corral and went down to the town to borrow from the sole merchant a coin. The evening was cold and they were exhausted for the night prayer so they called it a day. Their second day.

The bleating of the famished animals woke the two shepherd up. It was their third day. Both realized that their flocks have not eaten for two days and so hurriedly went down. One after the other, they opened the gates of the corrals widely for a quick passage of the flocks. The sheep were already ravenous and all rushed out into the opening where they bottleneck. A stampede ensued which resulted into the death of a large number of lambs, some ewes and a few rams, the injury of many and the destruction of the corrals.  The two shepherds blamed each other for the mishap. Their bickering  progressed for hours without the two reaching a consensus. A recess was agreed upon and the two shepherds have their lunch--separately, I should tell you, for even in such thing as lunch they could not agree what meals to have. After their siesta, the meeting resumed and a more intense, heated and loud argument broke out and the ravenous sheep scampered everywhere, restless agitated and yet too exhausted to tend for themselves. By vespers, the two were ready to resolve the bickering by slaughtering the injured and to donate the mutton of the animals to bystanders and in return thereof, solicit their help in repairing the corrals. So they collected the dead sheep, slaughtered the injured and distributed the mutton among the bystanders in the neighborhood while at the same time solicited their help in repairing the rundown corrals. But the evening was cold and the bystanders managed only to salvage the broken wood while the two were worn out for the night prayer so they called it a day. Their third day.

Early on the fourth day, the landlord returned home and found the now small yet ravenous flock wandering warts and all beyond the broken corrals with no shepherd to be seen nearby. Now, what do you think will he say and do to those egotistical irresponsible pastors he hired?