Prepare: Friday Parable

Once upon a time, there was a handsome and prosperous village where all who lived within worked hard and enjoyed the fruits of their land. As time came to pass, they were fortunate enough to have a fair size herd of beautiful and healthy dairy cattle.

The cattle produced milk which was used for cheese, yogurt, curds and whey. The people marveled at the production of their cattle and the dairy products were enjoyed by all.

Over time, the people became lazy and decided that hard work was beneath them. Rather, they chose to sit about in their villiage, which was naturally falling into disrepair as they were too lazy to fix things, all while eating of the bounty of the dairy cattle, which came dutifully into town each morning with their calves for milking.

One day, the people looked into the fields and gazed upon the fat dairy cattle and their calves.

"Look at them," they said. "All they do is eat grass and sleep. Meanwhile, they give us but a portion of milk, cheese and yogurt. We deserve more and something better to eat!"

One of their number stood and proclaimed, "If you elect me your leader, I will do something about this situation. I will force the dairy cattle to share more!".

"How?" said the people.

"I am a butcher, and if you elect me, I will take some of the dairy calves and slaughter them for food. The cattle have plenty and they should be made to share. After all, we deserve it" he said.

However, the man was lying. He knew nothing about cows or being a butcher, rather, he simply wanted to be in charge and have sway over the people and their village.

The people thought this was a good thing and so they elected him their Leader and Butcher.

The next morning, when the dairy cattle came to be milked, the Butcher took one of the calves, ( naturally over the protest of his mother), killed it and slaughtered if for meat. Because he knew nothing of butchering meat, the Butcher wasted much of it. Further, he held back one third of the meat for himself. "I am performing a service for the public and I deserve to be compensated for my sacrifice", the Butcher rationalized.

Afterward, the people ate of the meat he brought forward and found it new and delicious. The taste was made better in that the people did or gave nothing for this wonderful meal.

"You can remain our Leader and Butcher if you give us a calve each day to eat" said the people.

"Of course," said the Butcher, "The cattle have many calves and they should be made to share".

And so it went, day in and out. The Butcher slaughtered the meat, wasting more each day in his haste and greedily keeping a third for himself and feeding the people only what was left.

Eventually, there were no more calves to be slaughtered. The people gathered around the Butcher,

"Where is our meat?" they demanded.

"All of the calves have been slaughtered, there is none left."

"Well, where's our milk, cheese or yogurt? We are hungry and need food!" the cried.

"Without calves, the cattle have no reason to produce more milk" said the Butcher. "I cannot make them give us any if there is none to give".

"We made you our Leader. Give us food!" shouted the people.

Fearing for his life, and afraid of losing the power he enjoyed over the people, the Butcher made a hasty decision and declared,

"Let us go and slaughter one of the dairy cattle. She is fat and will feed many of us. Besides, there are many of them and they are not giving their fair share!".

The people agreed with this and the Butcher went into the fields and killed one of the dairy cattle.

The people ate the cattle and were satisfied for the time being. The next day, another was killed and then another until all the cattle were no more.

"We are hungry," said the people, "Where is our food? Where are our cattle? Where is the meat? Where is the milk and cheese? We need food!"

The Butcher replied, "You have eaten all the cattle, there is no more."

"Then why are you still our Leader? You promised us food! We should be rid of you!" the people said.

The Butcher thought quickly and then said,

"Who among you ate more than the others? Those that did should be made to share! And what about the elderly? They are old and do not need to eat but they did. They too should be made to share! And what about the children? They are small and do nothing so why should we feed them? Again, they should be made to share!"

The people turned on each other and began to tear each othet apart. Soon, none were left in the village including the Butcher who was one of the last to be killed.

In the end, there was no more food, no more cattle and no more village. Those envious people who do nothing yet want more of what is produced by others eventually and inevitably destroy all which was productive and sustainable.

The End