Once upon a time in a field over the hill and across the river, lie a flock of sheep of all different sizes and coats. In particular, there was one mutton, Luke, who was born and raised in the field. The flock Luke lived in was protected by the Pride, a herd of majestic and strong lions. All the lambs looked up to the lions in awe and went to them for wisdom and. As a lamb, Luke once crossed the pasture to the fence to speak with the lions. As he neared the fence, a grand feline with a glowing coat and a mane of silk approached him opposite the fence.
“I am Christian the lion. What is it you seek, youngling?” the Lions voice boomed.  Shaking in fear and admiration, Luke mustered enough courage to reply.
“Oh great Lion, how I aspire to be you. I am here caged up with these lambs of wool coats, not nearly as gorgeous as yours. You roam free outside this wooden barrier and all creatures look up to you.”
Christian chuckled at this. “Sweet child, you can become one of use, but you must overcome a great task.”
The young lamb’s eyes lit up with hope.  “How? How! I must know! I will do whatever it takes!”
“Here in the Pride, we do not view each other in the way you view your fellow goats. We are all equal and we treat others as we wish to be treated. If you can live your life by that moral, one day you shall be a lion amongst your people.”
With the knowledge, Luke high tailed it back to his flock to begin following these principles immediately. As the years went on he became better and better at this lifestyle. He gained the friendship and trust of everyone in the flock. Sometimes before asking the lions for advice, sheep came to him first. Every year he waited and waited to become the lion that Christian had promised he’d become, growing less patient every year. Finally after decades, Luke hiked back across the field and up to the fence, this time with much more gray in his coat and a limp in his stride.
“I demand to speak with Christian!” the sheep called through the fence. Slowly, Christian appeared over the hill and strutted his way to the fence where Luke was waiting.
“What is the meaning of your tone?” Christian snapped.
“Lion, you promised me many years ago that if I lived my life in the way of your people, I myself would become a lion.  Look at me! I see no mane on silk, or claws so beastly! I have waited decades and I am starting to think that you lied to me. It has not happened yet and I want to know why!”
Luke heard the lion chuckled as he did many years before, and this enraged Luke even more. 
“Oh sweet, sweet, child,” he purred, “I told you that you would become a lion amongst your people! When you came here all those years ago, you were too concerned about transforming yourself into a lion, you couldn’t even hear my clear instructions over you conceited attitude. You still followed my directions, and I have delivered what I promised. Look at the way they treat you, so kind and loving. They come to you sometimes before they come to us. You always receive friendly smiles and never experience any drama. You love the way they treat you, and you love returning the favor. They view you as a lion amongst them, just as I promised you they would.”
With every word the lion said, Luke grew angrier. Over the years though, he had learned during quarrels to hold his breath and consider the opposites person of view before he released his breath to spoke. Luke considered all the lion had just said. He was correct, Luke did love being kind to his fellow sheep and they are kind back to him. He sees them treat each other with prejudice and rudeness and its hurts him to watch. The child that stood here so long came here too involved with himself to learn from the lion, and now, as he stands here free of his conceited ways, he finally understood the lesson the lion had tried to teach him so long ago. He lived his life as the lion instructed and the lion and now he is viewed by his peers as the lion of lambs.
Luke lived out his life as he had for all those years of waiting, but this time his waiting was over. All along he was granted his wish, but it took him years to realize it was a metaphor. And when he did, he was finally fully happy, and he spread his message to the sheep around him and he passed down this wisdom to generations of lambs, until his time came to roam the great field in the sky, and when he arrived Christian was there to escort him through the great pearly fence.