Sheep Boulevard
by Oliver Carlos
There’s a road in Cabuyao, Laguna which I call Sheep Boulevard. It’s approximately 1 kilometer long extending from the expressway tollgate up to the science park entrance. There, you will see a flock of sheep numbering around 3 dozen, roaming freely, back and forth that street. They’re always there every day, and all the time. It’s quite a dangerous place for the sheep as the road is the passageway of monstrous trucks coming from the factories in the science park. Good thing the large trucks and all other vehicles would stop or slow down to avoid hurting them. Whenever I pass by this flock, several questions pop up in my mind.
Who owns them? Don’t they have a shepherd? Where is he? Where are these sheep trying to go? Do they know where they are? Do they know what they are doing? Are they aware of the dangers of the street they are traveling on?
One day, I got off my car and tried to take photos and videos of them. Whew! I had a hard time! I knew sheep were very gentle creatures, but I didn’t know that they were extremely shy. I wasn’t afraid that they might attack me like a dog or a bull, so I walked near them. I was surprised that they avoided me as if I’m a threat to them. They were so fleeting in trying to distance themselves from me. I ended up walking and jogging at the rear of the flock as they walked along the road. I tried my best trying to catch up with them to no avail.
When they reached the area near the science park gate, the security guard there made noises to shoo away the flock. He shouted, clapped his hands, and stomped his feet, then the flock turned 180 degrees and walked back to the direction where they came from. I guess that’s what happens every day. Some guard at the other end of the road would shoo them away too, once they get there, and the cycle would go on several times a day.
I was really intrigued where they come from or where they live as there’s no grass along Sheep Boulevard. So I drove along the road slowly to try to figure out this mystery. Alas, I saw an opening along the road which leads to a little green field about a hectare in size. Most likely, that’s where they come from. They must have been unsatisfied with the grass there, and so they wandered away looking for greener pasture. The trouble is the place they went to is worse than their original location.
People are like sheep. It’s just human nature to look for a greener pasture, for a better quality of life. We tend to leave the place, job, or status where we are, hoping that where we are heading would give us a brighter future. Good for us if things end up the way we wanted it. But that’s not the case all the time. Sometimes, it’s the other way around, and we would regret the decision and the path we took.
The trouble with the sheep that I saw was that they don’t know that where they were at first, was already the best patch of land in the area. That’s the greenest pasture they can be in. There’s no such thing as a greener pasture elsewhere. Their second problem was that they don’t have a shepherd. Nobody was there to guide them. The sheep just followed their heart, and they ended up getting lost, wandering aimlessly along the road, never finding that elusive greener pasture.
What’s the key so we won’t fall into this misery? We need to belong to a sheep owner, we need a shepherd, we must know the shepherd’s voice, and we must follow the shepherd wherever he leads us. We read in Psalm 23:1–2 (ERV):
“The Lord is my shepherd. I will always have everything I need. He gives me green pastures to lie in. He leads me by calm pools of water.”
Let us make Jesus our personal shepherd. Let him guide us to the greener pasture we are dreaming of. Establish that shepherd-sheep relationship by just a simple prayer. Tell him sincerely that you wanted to belong to him, and you would follow his voice from now on. His voice is the Bible, it’s called “the Word of God.” Take time to read it daily and you will see and feel the Good Shepherd’s loving guidance and directions. He knows what’s best for you, and he’s generous and kind enough to give it to you. Just follow his voice, you’ll never go astray.
