"You know what I mean by sheepdog trials, don't you? he said. They're open-air exhibitions of the skills dogs show when herding sheep, and the judge has to decide which is most skillful.
Well, once upon a time, a man and his small dog were on holidays in the Lake District and they saw a sign directing them along a road to some sheepdog trials which were being held on a nearby hillside.
The little boy said: 'Oh, I'd like to see a trial!' so his father agreed to take him, but when they arrived at the scene the little boy was very disappointed. He said to his father: 'But where's the jury? And where's the judge in the black cap, like the judge at the Old Bailey who sentences murderers to hang?'
Then the father had to explain that it wasn't that kind of trial. No dog was going to be condemned to death or sentenced to prison. Every one of them was there to be affirmed and valued and encouraged, and if some of them didn't come up to the mark they were always told they were welcome to come back later on when they had learned how to be more skillful.'
God is that sort of judge . . . "
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