The he-goat was particularly happy this time; in fact, he could not wait to be in the church the following Sunday and follow everything actively as it was the first time an indigenous priest was to officiate.
For the time he had known the Lamb, he had been tolerating her stubbornness and disbelieving attitude towards the faith considering the fact that she was still a pagan and had not been baptised into the faith nor had she received any teachings — he hoped she would change after receiving the teachings of the faith.
He had already told her about the officiating by the indigenous priest the coming Sunday, and both of them would go together. On that Sunday, he was hurrying her up for them to be there in time. But in her usual manner, she wanted to put her make-up to look beautiful; it didn’t matter to if they were going to church, her only concern was to go and make a show of herself and for those people around to see how beautiful she looked. Contrary to his usual way, he was patient with her this time till she got herself fully dressed.
The young sheep, in her beautiful apparel, was walking with pride and wagging her tail as she walked gaily to church with her husband-to-be. While the Lamb was very happy in her appearance, the He-goat was not, because they reached the church far behind time. Everybody was kneeling down when they got there and the air was tense and solemn with absolute tranquillity. While the he-goat knelt down quietly at the back, the Lamb moved without hesitation, jumping over the cord that bars late-comers from entering the church hall; landing on the plastered floor, her hoofs produced some musical sounds that drew people’s attention; and she was basking in the realisation that people’s attention was on her even though they uttered no word. But it was too late for the he-goat to stop her as she had already started moving on the central aisle of the church. The next thing he heard was when the priest said in their local dialect “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Privileged are we who are called to partake in the feast of the Lamb.”
(to be continued next Sunday)
