"Honoring the Eternal in Us All" 
A Very Little Lamb
Maurice Turmel PhD
There once was a lamb who was so small that one had to get down on their knees to get a close look at him. He hovered so near to the ground that oftentimes people came very close to trampling him. One day, while the lamb was grazing on some luscious grass, a man came walking by and nearly stepped on him. The lamb, we’ll call him Oscar, spoke up just in time and shouted:
“Watch out! Please sir, watch where you are going as I am only a tiny creature and easy to miss.”
The man grumbled and continued on his way.
Soon after, a woman with a child came by and the little boy noticed the lamb right away.
“Look Mommy, a lamb.”
“Yes, I see” replied the mother, smiling as she spoke.
“Can I pet him, Mommy?”
“Of course you can” she answered.
And the little boy proceeded to pet Oscar who was so pleased that someone had noticed him without nearly stepping on him. After a few minutes of fussing over the lamb, the boy and his mother went on their way.
Later that same day, the man from earlier in the morning came by again and seemed to notice the lamb this time. He made a wide arc around where Oscar was grazing and carried on down the footpath. Oscar was greatly relieved. “At least this time he did see me and he did not growl at me” he reflected. And he returned to his grazing.
In the late afternoon, around dusk, Oscar’s master came to collect him.
“And how was your day?” the master asked.
“Well, it was very strange” the lamb responded. “At first I wasn’t sure whether I was just being overlooked again, or if people walking by really did not see me.”
“How is that?” the master asked.
“This afternoon, a young boy came by with his mother and petted me. He apparently noticed me right away and so did his mother. Both of them seemed pleased to see me. Earlier though, a man came by and nearly trampled me. When I yelled at him to watch out, he growled and then continued on his way. Later on, he came by again, but this time he made a wide arc around me and he did not growl.”
“So, the second time around, the man saw you and avoided you altogether,” the master repeated.
“Yes, it seems so” Oscar stated. “What to you make of this master?”
“Well Oscar, let me see here. Some men, you know, are known to be very gruff and clumsy. Others can be more attentive and charming. And some, although not many, can be quite sensitive to the needs of all creatures, including small ones such as you. When a child comes by, that is of course very different. They always see small creatures and run to them right away.”
“That’s true” Oscar responded. “I have seen this time and again. But what is it with these gruff men? Were they not children once themselves? And would they not have noticed and approached a small creature such as myself, at that time in their lives, like the little boy did this morning?”
“That’s a very interesting point Oscar” the master replied. “Let me see if I understand your question. You are wondering what happens to little boys when they become men?”
“That’s right” Oscar responded. “How can they be so attentive and playful at that earlier time in their lives and then become so surly and grumpy later on?”
“When I was young” the master began, “I loved to play with the other children and all manner of small creatures. As my life progressed I was exposed to other things, and for a time, I forgot about these earlier interests.”
“You did?” the lamb repeated, somewhat incredulous.
“Yes, I did” the master went on. “One day while traveling toward a town some distance from here, I came upon a very odd creature that I had never seen before.”
“What was it?” Oscar asked excitedly.
“I am still not certain to this day, but I can describe it” the master continued. “This creature had two heads, three tails and a very thick mane that covered nearly its entire body.”
“Wow!” Oscar exclaimed.
“I know” the master went on, “a very unusual creature indeed. And when I stopped there to examine it more closely, a strange thing happened.”
“What was that?” Oscar gasped, totally engrossed by his master’s tale.
“The creature began to speak to me through both of its heads, and each conversation was different. One head gave me a warning and said ‘watch where you are going’ and the other one asked ‘are you looking for a route home’?”
“What did you say?” Oscar asked.
“I really didn’t know what to say until I realized that both heads were saying approximately the same thing. Then I felt I could answer. To the first head I said ‘prayers be with you.’ And to the second head I said ‘I’ll be there soon’.”
“What did that mean?” Oscar asked.
“It meant that I knew where I was going and that I would get there when I was ready. And the creature laughed and both heads said: ‘we’ll see you later’.”
“Wow!” Oscar exclaimed again. “I still don’t know what you mean though.”
“Well,” the master went on, “I believe I was to solve the riddle posed by the two heads. Both were inviting me to declare who I was. When I understood this, I understood the riddle and then I could find my way back home again.”
“Home?” Oscar repeated.
“Yes, home” the master replied, the home where I know myself best and where I can express all that I truly am.”
“But where is that?” Oscar continued, still not satisfied.
“Why, that’s here with you Oscar and the rest of my flock. You see, I too was on my way to becoming a gruff old man when the two-headed creature confronted me with that challenge.”
“But you figured out the riddle” Oscar added.
“Yes, I did, but only because I continued to have something very valuable going for me. I still believed in magic and I liked to solve riddles. So this riddle was exactly what I needed to understand the value of Home.”
“So how does this relate to the gruff old man I saw today?” Oscar probed.
“I can only assume he has had no riddles presented to him thus far” the master answered. “Unless, what you said to him this morning gave him something to think about.”
“How’s that?” Oscar continued.
“Well, sometimes Life delivers to us humans a number of riddles that we have to solve. Some of these may be large and some small. And a number of these riddles are likely to be more difficult than others.”
“Give me an example, please” Oscar implored.
“A large riddle would be when someone close to you suddenly dies. And a small riddle might be what to do when a child starts to weep. Both of these riddles would have to be solved if the affected person is to have peace again.”
“And these are difficult to solve?” Oscar wanted to know.
“Well, yes and no” the master answered. “With a child weeping you may just have to give them some attention and perhaps say a few reassuring words. But when someone loses a loved one, then you may be puzzled about what to say or do.
“I’m not sure that I understand” Oscar exclaimed.
“People have feelings” the master continued, “and feelings can be difficult to manage at times. Men, in particular, seem to have a difficult time with their feelings. Oftentimes they rant and rave, they growl in their discomfort, but rarely do they express exactly what it is they are feeling.”
“Like the man today?” Oscar added.
“Yes, like that man you encountered today. He could have said ‘excuse me,’ or ‘pardon me little lamb,’ but no, he just growled with his discomfort. And when he later returned, he avoided you altogether, essentially avoiding the discomfort he growled about earlier, rather than being confronted with it again.”
“Is discomfort a feeling?” Oscar wanted to know.
“It most certainly is” the master replied. “And that is what so many men seem to have problems with. For them, discomfort, or any similar feeling, is a riddle. And when they can’t resolve it, they usually try and avoid it in the future.”
“Or growl at it” Oscar jumped in.
“Exactly. In either case, they do not get to solve the riddle of their discomfort. So with a child weeping, that is not so difficult to handle. They might just give them some treats, or growl if they’re impatient, and walk away. But when someone dies, well then, the discomfort is usually so great that most men are at a loss as to what to do.”
“So, what do they do?” Oscar asked, somewhat concerned.
“As I’ve been saying so far” the master went on, “usually they just try to avoid it. That is, they most often try to deny or overlook their discomfort to such an extent that they become preoccupied with avoidance strategies. As a result they often miss out on a great deal of the positives that Life has to offer.”
“How can they get past this?” Oscar asked, hoping there was an answer.
“Well, if they choose to, they can get some help with their discomfort.”
“What kind of help? Oscar inquired.
“Oh, a friendly ear perhaps, someone to talk to about their feelings, someone who will listen to the man’s pain if he is willing to share it. Anywhere there may be a friendly hand to comfort them, if they reach for it. You see, Oscar, most men do not really want to be in distress. They do want to do something about their hurts and losses, but they often don’t know what. Many of them have been taught that talking about their discomfort is bad and that people will look down on them or see them as weak.”
“Oh that is sad” Oscar stated. “I would not look down on them. I would surely listen.”
“Yes you would Oscar, because you are such a kind soul and you have much to give, even as a small creature. Yes”, the master went on “I do believe that you could help many men solve their riddles.”
The conversation went on like that for a time until Oscar grew tired and knew he had to sleep. “Tomorrow” he said to himself, “I will try and help someone with their discomfort.”
The next day Oscar was returned to his usual grazing spot just outside of the town and his master went off to attend to the rest of the flock. Shortly after Oscar was left to his grazing, the man from the day before came by and once again very nearly trampled him. But before that could happen Oscar quickly shouted out a greeting that caught the man’s attention.
“Good morning sir. How are you today?” Oscar said cheerily.
Startled, the man stopped and looked around until he could see Oscar at his feet.
“Oh, good day there, little lamb. I am good, thank you. Why I very nearly trampled you didn’t I?”
“Oh, not to worry” Oscar said. “I saw you coming this way, so I had plenty of time to advise you of my presence.”
“Well, thank you for being so considerate” the man went on. “I am not sure where my mind was, but I was obviously distracted.”
“Oh, that’s O.K.,” Oscar went on. “Sometimes we have riddles to ponder and they can take up a lot of our attention.”
“Why that’s so true” the man repeated. “Just the other day I was telling my friend Alfred that Life is filled with riddles and we must find our way through them. But first we must ask for help. You see some riddles are just too difficult to sort out on your own, so a friendly ear may be what you need at these times.”
“Who is Alfred?” Oscar asked.
“Oh, Alfred is my friend who has just lost his wife. She was killed in an accident near their home. Alfred hasn’t been the same since. I’ve tried to help him but he’s so hard to reach right now. Oh listen to me telling you about my problems and keeping you from your grazing. This is no matter for a little lamb. I’ll be on my way now” and he turned to leave.
“Just a minute” Oscar exclaimed. “Please don’t go just yet, unless you are in a particular hurry.”
“Well not really,” the man said hesitantly, “I could stay a while longer perhaps. That’s if you don’t mind of course.”
“Mind, no, never.” Oscar reassured him. “I love to talk, especially about riddles and such.”
“You know about riddles?” the man asked, now quite curious.
“Let me tell you about riddles” Oscar went on. “Have you ever heard the story about the two-headed creature, which had three tails and a thick furry mane, and could speak out of both heads at once?”