Merwan, Stories Of Meher Baba For Children

De Simple Silence.

[modifier] The Good Shepherd

At first, after Meher Baba left his body, the mandali had no time to think of themselves. They were kept very busy doing the work that Baba had given them. Later, at Meherazad, they were not so busy and found themselves missing Baba very much.

One evening at dusk Mani found Eruch washing his face at the tap outside his cabin. She spoke to Eruch, but he didn't answer. He just wiped his face with his towel.

She waited patiently. But instead of answering, Eruch beckoned to Mani and started walking past the mango tree toward the edge of the field.

Mani was puzzled. All Eruch had said was, "Come," so she went.

By now it was so dark that she could hardly see. Silently she stood beside Eruch at the edge of the field. Finally Eruch spoke. "Can you hear?" he asked her.

Mani strained her ears. Sure enough, from the other side of the field, she could hear a soft sound: "Baa-baa, baa-baa, baa-baa."

It was the sound of sheep in the field, and they seemed to be calling out Baba's name.

Hearing them made Mani feel very happy. "Ah, yes," she said. "I hear."

Mani and Eruch knew that sometimes the shepherds left their flocks of sheep on the field. Usually they made a pen, or fence, of thorny branches. Then they put the sheep inside the pen so that the animals were protected.

Eruch spoke again. "Can you see?" he asked.

Mani strained her eyes. Some of the sheep were white. They were moving about restlessly. Because of that, she was able to see them. "Yes," she said. "I can see the sheep."

"No, look to the left," Eruch pointed. "Can you see what's there?"

It was quite dark, but as Mani looked, she saw a darker shape. It looked like a big rock, a short distance from the sheep pen.

Thoughts raced through Mani's mind. There is no big rock in the middle of the field, she thought. Then suddenly she realized what it was. It was not a rock. It was a person. Someone was sitting there as still as a rock with a blanket around him.

"Oh, it's the shepherd," Mani exclaimed.

"Yes," Eruch nodded. "Because it is dark and the sheep cannot see, they think that their shepherd has left them. They think that he is not there. They are restless, calling out to him, searching everywhere for him.

"But the shepherd is sitting there all the time. He is watching over his flock, protecting them. He will sit like that, very still, all night long. He will not move from there.

"And when the dawn comes, the sheep will see that their shepherd has never left them. He has been there all the time."

This helped Mani to realize that Meher Baba had not really gone away. She could not see him any more, but, like the Good Shepherd, he was still there. It was just as Meher Baba once said: "Don't lose heart. but keep me in your heart. And remember I am always with you."

Anne E. Giles. © 1980 Anne Giles