An Allegory   I could see it in the distance.  A dark, threatening cloud was forming on the horizon; a sure sign of a coming Storm.  Oh, and to be sure, this after only recently drying out from the last Storm that had brought floods of despair.  After the last sudden relentless drenching, there had come a much needed time of warm sunshine and an Invigorating Breeze.  Oh, the sweet, Invigorating Breeze!  How beautiful and vitally important it had been to my temperament to receive the vibrant, refreshing Breeze; a wind of faithful encouragement, providing renewed confidence.  What a pleasant memory…. But then another memory came that was accompanied with…

A parable of how I feel at the end of 2016… A dog, whose master goes away for a predetermined amount of time, is placed at a kennel where they board dogs.  While he is there, this dog eats unfamiliar food out of an unfamiliar bowl, entertains other restrained dogs who are little more than strangers, and is cared for by a cruel steward who abusively beats him because the dog belongs to someone else.  In the midst of the confusion and sorrow, as the dog hears the evil steward approaching from down the hall, he cowers in the corner of his kennel expecting another beating as the unfamiliar dogs watch…