Bob the cow

This past Sunday, Pastor Gee led a Sunday school lesson on natural disasters in the bible. He asked a question at the end. I don’t really remember the exact question but I think it went something along the lines of why does God allow these things to happen? I honestly didn’t have a decent answer to give, even though I’ve thought about this many times. Since I don’t have a good answer to give…I might as well tell a story.

This story is about a cow. The cow doesn’t really have a name, so we’ll call him Bob. Bob is a good cow. He behaves and obeys his master’s commands. We’ll call his master Tom. Bob the cow lives on a big farm with Tom, his two kids (we’ll call them Joe and Jim), and some other farm workers. Bob likes to wander around the farm eating grass and hanging out with the other farm animals. Bob also has a nodding acquaintance with the two kids, Joe and Jim.

One day Bob notices that the younger kid, Jim, isn’t there anymore. Not thinking too much of it, Bob goes about his business, eating grass and kicking it with the other farm animals. A few days go by, then months, then a year or two. Then one day, Bob the cow sees Jim off in the distance. Tom ran out to him and gave him a hug and stuff. He brings Jim back to the farmhouse and everyone seems to be in a good mood. Next thing you know, there’s a bunch of people arriving at the farmhouse. Then, Bob sees Tom walking towards him…and that’s the last thing Bob remembers.

I’ve always wondered about the story of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the fatten calf. His life is so blissful, and one day, it’s over. Viewing the cow’s life by itself, and its death I suppose, it’s pretty much meaningless and slightly tragic; however, when viewed in the context of the whole story, I suppose it has more meaning, as it served a purpose within the story.

I’m not sure where I was going with this story, and if you’re still reading this and haven’t hit the back button yet then there’s a 50/50 chance you think I’m crazy. Meh…I don’t really care. I hope that at the very least it got you thinking about the often overlooked cow in the story.