Out Our Way: The lost bull - Matthew 7:7-8

Those of you who are regular readers of "Out our Way" may recall the story of "Junior," that young and smallish Charolais bull that disappeared one day.

It was after the mating season and the bulls were no longer fighting each other - in fact, they hung out together away from the main herd in what Charlie and I called "The Good Ole Boys' Club." 

Well, it was now early fall and time to start moving the cattle down from the summer pasture to the winter one, and as we gathered the herd together to begin the push, we noticed "Junior" was missing. Bulls are expensive, and, given Junior's small size and the reality of mountain lions in the area, we became concerned. So we began the search.

While the Tiger Ridge is mostly open prairie, it is also a very large area and there are numerous arroyos, and ridges where a small bull could wander and get lost. And so we began to search - splitting up but staying within sight of each other - exploring every gully and wash, riding over every ridge. It was a long and tedious day, but we were moving the herd out of this area for the season and had no intention of leaving Junior behind. Eventually we found him - and about seven heifers who had gone with him - and got them all safely back to the herd and eventually got the entire herd safely moved to the new pasture for the coming winter. It took some doing, but we refused to quit and eventually got the job done.

But what if we had given up? What if we had decided it was too hard and just let Junior stay lost and likely die up on "the Tiger" from starvation, thirst, the cold, or a hungry lion? Maybe it was too late and Junior was already dead, or maybe there was a break in the fence somewhere and he had taken off. Such things were possible, and maybe it would have all been in vain. There were no guarantees we would find and save him, but it was a certainty that if we did not try and had quit and stopped the search, Junior would have been a goner. Well, we did find him and got him and his "harem" safely into the new pasture that awaited them. Despite many hours of seeming fruitless riding and searching, we got him home.

I know for myself, I sometimes feel I am just talking to myself or an empty space when I try to connect with God. I seek but don't find, I ask and do not receive, I knock and nobody answers the door. What do I do then? The answer, according to the great spiritual giants I have known and read and studied is always the same: Keep seeking, keep asking, keep pounding on the door of Heaven.

I have yet to find any great woman or man of faith who found the way easy or the path smooth. In every case, they simply had to keep going despite often despairing they would ever connect with God. As one of the greatest Saints of the Church once famously wrote in her biography, "If this is how God treats His friends, no wonder He has so few of them!" You are not alone in your searching or in finding the way hard and sometimes even seemingly hopeless.

The Enemy sends us many distractions and obstacles as we search for God - for his aim is to discourage us and give up. Only those who refuse to quit will find the way home. And those great lights of the faith who struggled as we all do, encourage us by reminding us that they too struggled, but never quit. 

I recall searching so many empty miles, riding up and down countless ridges and into numerous gullies and washes with no sign of Junior. It was pretty discouraging and more than once I was ready to just turn around and go back - but Charlie and I didn't. We just wearily kept looking - and eventually found him. Maybe that's a good parable for us all in our desire to draw closer to God. 

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

--

The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].