Sheep & Shepherds
“He arose, and taking up his crook, began to awaken the sheep that still slept. He had noticed that as soon as he awoke, most of his animals also began to stir. It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to that of his sheep.” The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo
This week I have been doing check-in meetings with our staff, reviewing the Lenten season and Holy Week, and getting feedback from everyone about how they are feeling about what is next.
The uniform response I have gotten from most everyone? Exhaustion. The challenges of hybrid worship, the continued stress and worry about COVID, the frustration around inconsistencies about what is ‘safe’, the endless cycle of violence in the news, uneven access to the vaccine, and a lack of clarity about what is safe, and perhaps above all ‘how much longer do we have to do this?’
This week while one police officer in MN was convicted of killing an unarmed black man, another shot a 15 year old black girl in Columbus, Ohio who had called the police for help, and another shot an unarmed black man in Elizabeth City, NC.
No rest. No sabbath. No time to breathe.
Even ardent police advocates acknowledge that poor training, bad supervision, working too many hours with too little experience are making police involved shootings more likely, and the unnecessary murder of innocents more so.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t rest.
I don’t have time for sabbath.
When I was reflecting on sabbath and rest my mind drifted back to the opening lines of Paulo Coehlo’s the Alchemist. A young shepherd has found a safe space for he and his flock to spend the night, safe from wolves and predators. When the young boy wakes up in the morning he notices that his sheep start to awaken when he does. There is a connection between them.
Then after some further reflection, “he realized it could be the other way around: that it was he who had been accustomed to their schedule.” Sheep and Shepherds. Symbiotically connected, feeding off each other’s energy, warmth, and strength.
How can we rest when they have no rest?
How can we find peace when there is no peace?
The daily life of a sheep and a shepherd is stressful. Finding food, keeping the flock together, finding water, avoiding predators, getting a good price for the wool, finding shelter.... but when it is time to rest. They glory in it.
We need to glory in our rest.
We need to be good sheep for a Good Shepherd.
This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, and we are reminded that we are sheep who follow a shepherd who will not abandon or leave us, who comes looking for us when we stray, and would lay down his life for us if need be, indeed he already has.
Yesterday I remarked at Olivia Thomas’ funeral service that she was a Good Shepherd. She fiercely protected her sheep and frequently went out to go get those who had strayed. She was able to do that only because she knew she had a Good Shepherd who kept her safe, a living God standing with her. She was comfortable being a good sheep.
This week I want to encourage you to find ways to be a good sheep for a Good Shepherd. There are a lot of bad shepherds who would seek to lead us astray, but we know a Good Shepherd who only seeks to protect us and bring us home.