Step 8
Demetrius poked the slowly moving sheep with his staff, attempting to hurry it along. It trotted a few steps and then, distracted by a small clump of greenery, it paused to browse at the tender shoots. “Move on you stupid animal,” he barked as he applied another rough stroke.
“Demetrius, you don’t have to be so harsh. It is, after all, a stupid animal,” Alter said, adding in sotto voice, “Just like you.” Together, Alter, Demetrius, and the small flock moved slowly across the hills moving up toward higher ground. “Why are you so angry?”
“I’m a slave. Isn’t that enough?”
“How did you come to be a slave?”
“It’s not important,” Demetrius glared intently at the far horizon, fuming at some far distant place and time.
“I was forced into slavery,” Alter mused.
“Isn’t everyone,” Demetrius scowled.
“Yes, for the most part, though I’ve known of some who volunteer,” Alter replied.
“Really, I can’t imagine doing something like that,” Demetrius looked scandalized.
Alter sent his mind back in time years, decades. He saw an eager young man, looking for a better life for his family plunge into debt to build a nicer home. He saw the same young man desperately seeking some way to save his family. He saw a beautiful willowy wife, holding a toddler girl with a worried-looking little boy holding onto her other hand. He saw fields heavy with nodding heads ready for harvest consumed by a raging fire. He saw creditors demanding payment. And then in dark bitter pain, he saw his beautiful family shuffling sadly away with her brother as his creditors took him as a slave, payment for his debts. And last of all, he saw a young shepherd listening as the strange preacher spoke of love and forgiveness on the side of a hill north of here.
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