The Parable of the Lost Buffalo

Good Morning!

It's amazing how a wonderful start to the week can fall apart so quickly. After a wonderful Monday passes, Tuesday brings the news of my flight date . . . on May 10th. 

To perhaps better understand the impact this had in my mind, I'll draw on a very recent experience of mine. 

Imagine for a minute that one of your baby buffalo had slipped through the fence. There it is, standing outside the barbed wire, likely confused why the fence moved. So you talk to it reasonably. You love this buffalo, and you know that he'll do what you want if you gently coerce him back to the gate. Then he'll be safely contained, and you'll be happy knowing everything worked out just how you wanted. 

This buffalo, #111, has different plans. After you try to tell him what he should do and guide him to the gate, he decides he's had enough. He turns and runs into the forest, leaving you behind and abandoning the fence you'd built just for him. You have worked hard on this fence, wanting it to be secure, and telling yourself that the buffalo will love it inside, because you love them. 

Now that #111 has his first taste of freedom, you're left feeling helpless. How could he do something you wouldn't do? Why would he flee your securely built boundaries to likely die in the forest, thirsty and hunted by coyotes?

Naturally you chase after this buffalo. He's a part of the herd, and as such, you think your quick actions can save him from a horrible fate outside his pasture. He's still young after all. But you find that as you chase him, your endurance isn't a match for his terror. You get close, but every time you think everything will work out the way you desire, he moves even farther away. You pass his position a couple times, but he evades your futile efforts. 

Even as you pray, you argue with yourself. You can't give up and leave him to die! But when things seem hopeless and you're left gasping for breath as he disappears into an even deeper portion of brush, you're left with no choice. You must accept that the buffalo has a different plan than yours. So you return, unsuccessful, to your waiting family. 

To your surprise, they point out something you hadn't thought of. The buffalo may have thought you were chasing it, and fled for his own safety. As you can't catch him and force a safe return, you must grant the buffalo his own agency, to return or to face the perils of the world. 

So you move his friends to a safer pasture and leave the gates open in the original one, inviting the buffalo home. Perhaps he'll desire some water, or a bed of hay, or his friends who certainly miss him. You know it'll take time for him to return, so you busy yourself with other chores, still praying and hoping, but without the ability to compel. 

After some time, the buffalo does return. He is tired, and thirsty, and misses his herd. He's felt out of place and abandoned in an unfamiliar world, and seeks the comforts of home. He hasn't turned out the way you expected, but he has chosen to rejoin the safe pasture you had provided, perhaps appreciating your efforts a little more. He is more afraid of the consequences he faced when leaving than the chase you'd given earlier and the potential humiliation of being lost. 

When the buffalo walks into the pasture willingly, allowing you to calmly close the gate behind him, you feel ecstatic. Things didn't go the way you'd expected, and your methods may have failed, but he is safe again. Your goal is accomplished. He can grow to his potential. 

This is the story, but what does this teach the humble listener? In waiting for a flight plan, I had built the idea that I should return sooner than later. I had imagined an immediate flight without considering the benefits of a delayed date. 

As I gave up on the buffalo, allowing him to act for himself, so I should also have allowed God to dictate when my flight would be, and accept His decision. He knows best, and He's provided that safety, that end goal for me. I may have had my own path mentally charted on how things should happen, but I don't have the full picture. I don't know all the consequences. Only God does. His way may not be our way, but it is the better way. 

As to the further meaning of the parable, let him that hath eyes to see and a heart to hear seek and understand for himself. 

I am excited to return to missionary service, and am determined to put my best effort into the two weeks before I leave. I hope to learn what God intends me to learn, and to build on His foundation. 

- Talmage Williams

Pictures:

1. More flowers!

2. Baby buffalo in their hay.

3. The main herd in a new pasture.

4. Having a bit of fun!