What "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" Teaches Us About Today

Have you ever read the story "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf"? I decided to re-read it this morning. For most of us, we recognize this as a story about a little boy pranking people in the village by saying there is a wolf chasing the sheep when there really isn't...until there is:

"When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more."

The concept of the story now seems something that we need to look to, and that's why I wanted to bring it up today. Our society often plays this back and forth "victim blaming" with just about everything, and it's not a new concept. Not in the slightest. Most people look to this story for the very surface meaning of: okay well the little boy is in the wrong, he was the one who messed everything up, but there is an even larger message in the story that I think we need to look to today.

The last line of the story reads as follows:

"An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"

At the very end of this story, an old man comforts the boy, helps him, makes him understand that "it's okay, not everyone will believe you" but what you have to do is continue getting up everyday and working and doing your best to help others, no matter what anyone else thinks. A lot of people wouldn't attribute that message to this story, and instead focus on the base meaning of "don't lie", but I believe the ending reflects a deeper symbolic meaning that we all tend to overlook.

This story is about a boy, he's naive and young, and he likes to be funny and joke around. The village around him isn't having it. They don't like his behavior because it seems odd or different, so they get mad at him for tricking them. He was a child playing a game, with innocent intentions. The old man at the end sees this, he comforts the boy and puts his arm around him and says: "In the morning, it will be okay, we can fix this"

So why am I bringing this up today? I think with everything going on in the world and society today, we need to make sure that we don't just view things from one way. We need to look at all sides of a situation. While the rest of the village was mad at the boy, the old man was not. He was calm and understanding, and he knew the boy didn't mean harm. He could see that. I think it's important to remember this in our world today.

There is always a different way to look at something or to see a situation, there is always going to be a bit of chaos and sometimes instead of just walking away from it, you get up and you start making it better. The old man gives the boy hope that tomorrow is a new day, and that they will be able to solve this problem. He reassures him that everything will be okay, but that the boy should be good to remember this valuable lesson. The boy had to think not only about his own actions and his jokes, but the way others responded to it, and how that changes others' opinion of the little boy. But the old man did not judge, the old man did not assume, the old man understood the boy in ways that everyone else could not.

Remember this story today as you think about your day, and the world around you. Remember not to confuse people, but also don't dismiss someone just because they might share a different perspective. Understand that tomorrow, you all can walk in together, as one, and learn to handle problems together, rather than apart. That lesson, and that mindset, I think, is definitely one we should be thinking about and holding onto today.