We were just trying to help. Everyone had their best interest at heart – but they thought otherwise. Part of the problem was that some of us were city-slickers, and we underestimated our spooking power. Here’s what I remember:

It was branding day near Pompey’s Pillar, MT. My siblings, friends and shirt-tail relatives had been invited to my uncles’ farm to give them a hand. It was a hot but beautiful day. We could see fields of grain, sage covered hills, and the beautiful Bighorn Mountain Range. My cousins had already rounded up the cattle with their horses. The women had prepared lunch. The fire was hot, and we preteens and teens had the dirty, challenging, and fun job of wrestling calves to the ground as the grown ups branded them. There was plenty of help, so while some of us were waiting our turn to hold the calves down, we were asked to just make sure the adult cows didn’t get in the way. That is when we turned a simple branding day into a more complicated branding, roundup, and “fix the fence day.” 

I don’t remember whose idea it was, but when the 1,500-pound cows began moving toward the branding fire where their calves were calling out, one of us started waving our hands and shouting at them. This caused a minor stampede. They charged the nearest fence, which I was sure would stop them, because the corner fencepost also served as the gate post and was an 8 x 8 timber. But when that frantic cow hit the post, it snapped like a twig and, before anyone knew what had happened, a dozen cattle had sprung through the opening onto the dirt road. Now the cows were in danger, as were unsuspecting travelers. 

Looking back, I realize that the cattle had no idea that the branding, the fences, and the teenage sentries were all designed to keep them safe. When spooked, they resented all three, and sprang for “freedom.” It took hours to round up the cows and repair the fence, but I never forgot the lesson.  Neither cows nor people always recognize the value of fences and sentries. God’s moral laws are just such fences. They are there for our protection. We stampede them at our own risk.