A Tale of Self-Discovery

A shepherd was out in the field grazing his sheep one evening when he heard a sound. At first, he thought it was that of a kitten, only to see it was a lion cub. Out of fear of its mother, he watched it from the safety of a leafless tree.

When darkness started setting in without the mother coming for the cub, he took it to the farmhouse, kept it with his sheep, and hand-fed it with milk. And for the next six months, it grew into an energetic ball of shiny muscle: a lion!

One day when the sheep and the lion were out in the field grazing, they strolled to a nearby river to drink water. And lo! Out of the jungle emerged a beast which roared so menacingly that the sheep ran for cover. So did the lion.

The shepherd, who was watching the incident from the leafless tree, saw the beast clamping a lamb in its blood-drenched jaws after the others had fled. That made him realize danger had returned to his part of the village.

Several weeks went by without such an attack. But one day when the lion went to the river, it bolted to the farmhouse on seeing a beast. It then wondered why the sheep hadn't run for cover as well.

A few days later when the sheep and the lion were drinking water in the river, the lion again saw the beast in the water and trembled with fear. Then out of the jungle emerged the old beast which roared menacingly as it did the other time.

The sheep ran for cover while the lion stood in dazed confusion as it was now seeing two beasts: the real one, and the one in the water, which was its own reflection. It thought its life was about to end.

As if to encourage the lion to be bold, the beast kept roaring. The lion tried to roar, but all that came out of its mouth was the bleating of a sheep. On trying some more, though, it started to roar.

No sooner had it started roaring than it felt strong, confident and courageous. The beast then turned and strode back into the jungle, satisfied that the lion had gained the boldness of a lion.

The lion, on the other hand, turned around and glanced over the village where it grew up. It then gazed towards the jungle where the beast had gone and followed it, for it knew its time had come to be all it was meant to be - a lion king!

~ Adapted from The Spirit of Leadership by Dr. Myles Munroe.

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Also check out a review of John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage".