This entry and the next two are a piece I wrote that was too long for Helium.com.  The title is: The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf.

In much of my past writings about Nostradamus I have sought to present an understanding of the true meaning gained from recognizing Nostradamus as a prophet of God, one chosen to present a warning to mankind.  Since I first became aware of this meaning through personal understanding (2001), I have had reason to think on occasion of the Aesop fable, The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, more commonly known as The Boy Who Cried Wolf. 



I have written before about my thoughts on this matter.  I explained then that the fable worked better when we saw the boy as Jesus, guarding the sheep that are our souls.  We are the people in the town below.  The wolf then represents the dangers of evils, which are trying to steal those souls.  The cry out is then a necessary warning system that guards our souls, to call to us when that danger arrives.  The planned response of the people is to defend against such a predatory attack, by immediately moving to act.



Nothing has changed to alter my views on this fable, but the Gospel reading for this week, reminded me of how the moral lesson I see in The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf applies to the moral lessons taught in the Bible.  This week we studied Matthew 4:12-23.   In those verses Jesus was said to call to his disciples to come, to which they dropped their duties as fishermen and followed.  Jesus told them, "I will make you fishers of men."  That call was made by the shepherd of all our souls; and, Andrew, Simon (called Peter), James and John did not hesitate once the call was made.  As our priest reviewed the meaning of those verses, I was reminded of my views on the true moral of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. 



This led me to investigate how the element of time comes into play.  Some people may argue that the Aesop fables came well before Jesus, with the morals established.  In the case of The Boy Who Cried Wolf the moral is said to be: "Even when liars tell the truth they are not believed.  The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth." (source Wikipedia)  For some reason I do not believe Aesop actually came up with that moral.

 

Aesop lived sometime around 550 BC and he was known to be a slave subservient to a Greek citizen.  The fables attributed to Aesop are said to also come from various sources prior to the Sixth Century BC.  The first written collection of fables under Aesop's name came about around 300 BC, written in Latin.  This significantly predates the birth of Jesus; but still, all of these stories were "moral lessons," each ended by a summation of what that story's moral value was.  Even though Aesop was nearly 600 years before the birth and times of Jesus, the importance of morals was strongly in place in the world at that time; and, passing on that importance to adults and children alike has always been a sign of civilization. 



As for this period of time before Jesus coming into the world, prominent Old Testament prophets of God used similar terminology, as did Aesop, in their prophecies of the coming Messiah, who was to be Jesus.  The prophet Isaiah lived in 8th Century BC Judah and the prophet Ezekiel lived in similar times as Aesop, around 500 BC; and, both used the terms "shepherd," "sheep," "flock" and "lamb" in their statements of a coming Lord.  Isaiah, in chapter 11, verse 6, wrote, "And the wolf will lie down with the lamb  And a little boy will lead them."



Each of the writers of the four Gospels also refers specifically to Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  They all use the analogy of the people as the sheep, who Jesus will protect and defend.  The wolf also plays a role, particularly one in sheep's clothing, from whom the people should beware.  A conclusion drawn by a website run by The Parent Company, under the heading of "Disciples of Christ," came to the conclusion that "Jesus is the one shepherd that we, as sheep, can completely trust," based on the collections of biblical passages making reference to shepherd, sheep, lamb and wolf, from both New and Old Testaments.  I doubt anyone professing to be Christian will deny those associations.



With all of this background in mind, it becomes much easier to see how the story of Aesop's fable, The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, can intentionally be referencing Jesus, to the point of being prophetic, even if the original intention was not stated to be such.  I see the amendment of the title to The Boy Who Cried Wolf to be more as a result of not realizing the true moral fabric contained within the words. 



This easily recognizable title becomes almost accusatory and blame focused, emphasizing "cried" as deceitful, while removing the element of the shepherd completely.  "Cried wolf" is now synonymous with lying, as is the moral attachment about being a liar.  Why not rename it The Shepherd Who Called Irresponsibly?  I see reason to ask some pertinent questions about some glaring flaws the story presents, making the official "moral" poorly judgmental.



The story goes like this: The people of the town leave their flock of sheep in the care of a boy.  The boy is instructed to watch over the flock, to see if the flock becomes threatened by a wolf in the area.  If the boy sees the wolf, he is told to shout out loudly, so the people can come to beat the wolf away or kill it.  When left alone with the sheep, the boy begins to test this system by calling out, "Wolf!"  This call immediately brings the towns folk out with sticks and hoes, ready to defend the sheep, only to find out that the boy says there was no wolf.  It was all a test, causing the people to return to the town somewhat disgruntled.  This incident is then repeated a second time, with the same result.  After that time the wolf actually does appear, causing the boy to cry out loudly, "Wolf!" only to have no response by the people, who think the third call is just another hoax.  This leads to one of several endings, most prominently being: the wolf eats the sheep (some say the wolf eats the boy and others say the wolf simply mocks the boy for being unbelievable as a liar).



Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to realize the fault is clearly not the boy's.  After he tricked the town the first time, he should have been replaced by a responsible adult.  Why would you leave a liar to shout out if a wolf was coming?  Is there a point in moral determinations that says one lie does not a liar make, but two ruins your reputation for life?  Then ask yourself why sheep guarding isn't as important as school building guarding?  In elementary school we regularly had to respond to fire drills, even when we knew it was coming and knew there was no fire.  We had to still go through the motions of emergency response, which had us automatically getting into orderly lines exiting the school. In my work as a safety instructor, when I reviewed with employees how we could lessen the severity of an emergency situation, I instructed, "by having a plan because preparedness keeps you calm during crisis.  Control versus panic is the key phrase to remember, because it can save lives."  Practice, during non-emergency times, is essential for preparedness and the boy was simply running wolf drills.



Realizing that, look now at the title Aesop gave the fable, The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf.  This focuses the story not on blame, but on two entities, one for guardianship and the other the danger needed to be guarded against.  The people are the owners of the sheep, but they are too busy to tend to them, so they have a boy watch over them for them.  A boy becomes symbolic of innocence, if not purity, while adults are symbolic of people who have been around the block a few times, thus most assuredly sinners.  The shepherd is Jesus, who is good and pure; and, Jesus is the son (as a boy) of God, who watches over the flock.  The sheep are the souls, which are owed by the people, who leave their souls unattended, to be watched over by the shepherd boy (Jesus).  That leaves the wolf as the element of evil, which seeks to steal away our souls, requiring that our souls be carefully watched.  When the wolf eats a sheep it takes a soul away from someone who is still alive, but then soulless, having become a victim of evil influences.