FOUR SHORT STORIES

"Once there was a life such as mine."

A little shepherd boy was watching his sheep one Sunday morning and heard the church bells ringing. As he watched the people walk along the pasture where he was, he thought to himself, 

"I would like to communicate with God! But what can I say to God?" He had never learned a prayer.

So, on bended knee, he began to recite the alphabet. Repeating this prayer several times, a man passing by heard the boy's voice, and saw the young boy kneeling with folded hands, eyes closed, repeating the alphabet.

He interrupted the boy. "What are you doing, my little one?" he asked.

The boy replied, "I was praying, Sir."

The man seemed surprised and said, "But why are you reciting the alphabet?"

The boy explained, "I don't know any prayers, sir. But I want God to take care of me, and to help me care for my sheep. And so I thought, if I said all I knew, He could put the letters together into words, and God would know all that I want and should say!"

The man smiled and said, "Bless your heart, God will!" And, he went on to church knowing full well that he had already heard the finest sermon he would ever hear.