Looking for Buffalo: A Modern Day Parable

 

The vacation that might not have happened.

“South Dakota?! What brought you there?”  

The patient before me smiled. “Well, my husband has always wanted to see Mount Rushmore.  But last year he finally stopped talking about it and actually planned the trip. So we went!”

If I’m honest, my first thought was about the weather. Still May, it was already 90 degrees in New Orleans. It had to be cooler in South Dakota. Right!? “Did you have fun?” I asked. “Oh, yes!” she replied. 

And then, she told me about the buffalo.

 

“Every parable tells a story that is taken from everyday life, yet wants to tell us something more, to refer us to a deeper meaning.” ¹

 

The buffalo that might have been missed.

In addition to seeing Mount Rushmore, my patient and her husband also toured a wildlife refuge in South Dakota. “I’m so glad we had a private tour guide,” said my patient as she recalled the way their guide navigated the roads with ease. “I don’t know that we would have gone as far as we did without her. And we definitely wouldn’t have driven that fast on those curvy mountain roads! She even talked to us as she drove them!” Along with the tour guide, my patient and her husband were searching for the buffalo known to roam free in that area. Hoping to see one up close, they’d been looking for quite a while, but no buffalo had yet crossed their path. “After a while I told myself it would be okay if we didn’t see one,” my patient said, recalling her thoughts when it seemed their search was fruitless. “After all, we were able to see them far off, in the distance—and that was closer than we’d ever been to a buffalo before the trip.”  

But while my patient tried convincing herself she didn’t need to get closer to the buffalo, the tour guide persisted. She turned off the paved road and onto a dirt path—a dirt path that soon brought them up close to the massive buffalo for which they’d been searching. “The buffalo were huge!” she exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face as she relived the memory. “It was truly an amazing experience!”  

 

The invitation that was almost missed.

As my patient spoke, I sensed it: A barely perceptible tug from deep within.  A tug so faint I could have easily missed it, and for many years I suspect I did. But this time—praise God—I did not. Instead, I paid attention. I knew God was trying to get my attention. He was in the exam room with me, and He extending an invitation.

 

“The parable raises questions in us; it invites us not to stop at appearances. Before the story that is told or the image that is presented to me, I can ask myself: where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life?” ¹

 

My patient wanted to see a buffalo… and she did!

But only after she got out of the driver’s seat.

Only after she stayed in the car though the road was long and winding.

And only after she turned off the well-paved road and took the less traveled side-path.

My patient wanted to see a buffalo… and she did. But had she been the one in the driver’s seat, she probably would not have.

 

“…the term “parable” comes from the Greek verb paraballein, which means to throw in front of. The parable throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself.” ¹

 

The hope that almost wasn’t.

For the rest of the day, my patient’s story kept coming to mind. But it wasn’t her search for buffalo that captured my attention; rather, it was how quickly she was ready to let go of her heart's desire and settle on what was already in front of her. Sitting with this, I finally saw the questions God wanted me to answer about my own life…

Where am I settling for what I have because I don’t want to surrender the keys? Or because the road ahead seems too hard, too unconventional?

Where, with a feigned spirit of gratitude, am I telling myself to look on the bright side—while simultaneously convincing myself I don’t want what I really do, simply so I can avoid disappointment?

Where am I ignoring the deep desires of my heart, not even bringing them to the Lord, because I don’t want to taste the pain of broken dreams?

Or worse still, where have I forgotten that I serve a God of miracles? Where have I forgotten that my faith is rooted in the Resurrection? Where have I given up on Hope all together because I’m too busy protecting my heart?

 

And if you're reading these words, is it possible that God has the same questions for you?

Lord, let me never think that You don't care about the desires of my heart. Let my circumstances never lead me to forget my faith, to doubt You, or to give up on Hope. And Lord, let me never never stop looking for buffalo. 

Praying, as always, that God breathes life into these words.

 

¹ Leo XIV, General Audience. Cycle of Catechesis – Jubilee 2025. Jesus Christ our Hope. II. The Life of Jesus. The parables 6. The Sower. (21 May 2025) at. The Holy See, https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/audiences/2025/documents/20250521-udienza-generale.html

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