Brambleberries

Jesus once talked about being a shepherd for us. You can read about it in John 10. His sheep (that's us) listen to his voice and he leads them. I was wondering what that means for you and me, so I asked my friend, Barty Badger, who told me this story, and it helped me to understand.

One day, as the legend goes, Barty Badger was off on an adventure! Barty wasn't always a famous adventurer. He started off just like you and me, younger and littler. His friends knew him as Little Barty Badger.

Spring was moving into summer in Old Raven's Forest and for Little Barty Badger that meant one thing: berries. He knew from long experience and lots of practice snacking that brambleberries were the first berries to get ripe in the spring, but they were also the hardest to get to: you had to work your way to the very center of a huge thorn bush. But he was committed. He needed those berries! Using his nose, Barty sniffed and snuffled his way through the maze of pointy, prickly, pokey branches. It was tiring work and took most of the day, until... just before dinner... he made it! Oh, the brambleberries were sweet!

After a few delicious moments of paw-licking good berries, Barty turned around, realizing something. He followed the smell of the brambleberries into the thicket. How was he going to get out? "Hhheeeeelllllppppp!" he yelled.

Miss Felicity Fox trundled down the path, adjusting her scarf. She's Barty's oldest and best adventuring friend and she always had exactly the right tool for every situation. She heard Barty's "hhheeeeelllllppppp!" and knew who it was from his voice. Who else would work so hard to get into a thorn bush just for a couple of berries? She said, "I'm coming, Barty!" Felicity walked over to the thorn bush and reached into her backpack, which had a thousand pockets all in different colors, and pulled out... a fork. She looked at it, considering for a moment, then nodded her head. It was perfect for moving prickly, pokey, pointy brambles out of the way.

She got to work, calmly and efficiently moving branch after branch just in the right way to bend and stay but not break. "This branch goes there," she muttered, "and this one goes here." After just a couple of minutes, she was halfway through the mass of thorns. But the sun was going down and the thicket is deep and dense, and the further in she got, the more every direction looked the same. She was still moving, still working, but she'd lost her bearings. How is she going to get to Barty?

Felicity stopped, now totally lost. Her instincts said to turn right, but another part of her brain says to turn left. She started to get worried; she was supposed to be rescuing Barty but what if they both got lost?! She stopped where she was, now really worried.

"You need to keep going straight!" said Barty, his voice calm and strong. That wasn't where Felicity thought she should go. How did he know where to go? Well, he had been this way before. So, she kept going straight. He was right! Unsure of where to go next, she anxiously called out for Barty's help, and again Barty’s voice was right. Once more she called out, but she wasn't anxious anymore. She knew Barty would guide her true.

Soon enough, Felicity made it to Barty. "Ah," she said. "There you are."

"Hi Felicity!" the badger said, cheerfully. "Thank you for helping. I saved you a brambleberry!"

"Just one?" Felicity asked, smiling. She took it and popped it into her mouth. "Let's get out of here." She held up her fork. "You guide; I'll deal with the branches."

Well, that's what the legend says, but I know one thing is true: We listen to the voices we know.