Billy

In many things, don’t we all follow Billy?

Stay with me here for a bit as what follows will relate to the retreats I attended at the Torres Unit.*  I grew up on a ranch.  When we sold our sheep, trucks that came to get the sheep had a lead goat with a large bell hanging around his neck, usually named “Billy”.  Billy would come down a plank, walk around with the sheep for a bit and, on command, walk back up the plank into the truck.  The sheep followed.

Now I’m not likening the men in white** and the table servants*** attending the retreat to sheep and Billy.  But, it did occur to me that the same principle was at work.  The table servants had previously attended a retreat, they knew what to expect.  They came for the food, the good time and to serve.  The participants, on the other hand, didn’t know what to expect and were understandably guarded.  As the retreat proceeded, the participant men in white followed Billy.

In many things, don’t we all follow Billy?

*Torres is a Texas State Prison near Hondo, Texas.

**In Texas prisons, all inmates wear white.

***A table servant is a man in white who attended a prior retreat as a participant.