• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Tribal Gospel

  • Way Back in the Long Ago
  • The Journey of His Followers
  • Christmas Album
  • Resources
Chapter 12 — Way Back in the Long Ago

He Slips Quietly Away

Your browser does not support the audio element.
Listen in Way Back in the Long Ago Download MP3

The enemy army began to run in panic when they saw the monster-man lying dead in a pool of blood at the feet of a narrow boy holding nothing but a leather strap. In the general chaos that followed, Zorek Avnim slipped away.

As he hurried back to his lambs, he thought of Aba Gvoha.

Zorek Avnim thought of Aba Gvoha.

Then he thought of the shepherd Chutch Mim, and how Chutch Mim had led his people across the desert.

He thought of the proud lions that lay dead on the borders of his pasture.

He thought of shepherds. He thought of lions.

Back in the quiet solitude of the Migdal Eder, he began to write down his thoughts:

The maker is my shepherd.
We walk through the greenest pastures;
together we walk beside the clear waters.
I lie down without fear
because my shepherd watches over me.
I walked deep into the Valley
and saw the shadow of Death,
but I was not afraid, because
everything that casts a shadow
has a bright light shining behind it.
The maker is that bright light,
The maker is my shepherd
who protects me.
When I see the shadows
of my enemies, I know that
my shepherd is behind them
and will strike them down
if they move to hurt me.
No matter what happens
to my body, I will live forever
in the hand of my shepherd.
Previous Chapter 11: The Monster in the Valley Next Chapter 13: Four Young Men Appear
Austral used stones as weapons.
Habilis created stone tools.
Aba Gvoha means “High Father”
Chutch Mim means “Water Cleaver”
Zorek Avnim means “Rock Thrower”
Ama Tala means “Lamb Mother”
Ushaa Shialom means “Peacemaker”
Belteshazzar means “Daniel”
The Migdal Eder was a stone tower in the middle of a pasture at the edge of town in the Long Ago.
The ancient Greeks had two words for time. Kronos was the relentless march of chronological time. Kairos was a pregnant moment in time, an inflection point of consequence.