When I had my vaccinations, I only had to go across the road to the Leisure Centre where they had set up a vaccination point in one of the sports halls. It couldn’t have been more convenient, so that was something else I couldn’t complain about. Then, when I was waiting in the queue and I looked at all the people being herded along as their turn came, I thought it’s true what they are saying, we are all sheep doing as we are told. Well not me, I said to myself, and I was just about to yell out, SHEEP!, and leave, when something occurred to me. If I did that, wouldn’t I just be doing what the other people were telling me to do? I would still be a sheep, but a sheep being bossed about by a different shepherd. So I just stayed in the queue and had the vaccination.
When I was thinking about it later, wondering to what extent I had compromised my principles, I had a sudden moment of clarity, one could almost call it a modest epiphany (epiphanette). In the end, I did the thing that made the most sense to me; the thing that felt right. And now I can hold up my head with pride because I was true to myself; I did it my way.
There may well be a God. I don't think it's likely, but whatever is the ultimate reality behind our existence and that of the Universe is bound to sound no less unlikely if it is ever revealed. But God, or a belief in God, isn't the problem. It is the people who say they know the nature of God, what God wants, and that they have the authority to speak on behalf of God that are the threat. Once you put your trust in such a person, they have control over you, and you end up following their will rather than God's.
I remember the first time I went shopping after the arrows on the floor, jac. I didn't even notice them, and was tutted at by another customer for walking in the wrong direction.
Harbottle Blog Comments (291)
But thanks. 
I didn't know it, actually, because it isn't an idiom either.
Creation or Evolution?
Yes, you're right, it isn't the same. Let's just put it down to experience and move on.