Who's In Your Flock?

Remember the Shepherds

“To remember nature, spend a day with a shepherd; to remember yourself, spend a day with nature.”

Mehmet Murat ildan

Shepherds play a prominent role in the story of Jesus' birth. They were the first to receive the message and the first to visit the stable, according to Luke (2:8-15). There is a pervasive urban legend that shepherds were the outcasts of society—the lowest of the low. People who could not do anything else were sent out to tend the sheep. I don't think that's so. Yes, they lived out in the fields for months at a time, so they couldn't keep the cleanliness laws, but consider who else in Old Testament accounts were shepherds of flocks—Abraham, Moses, David, and Rachel, who became Jacob's wife. I think shepherds were people who were trusted to look after a valuable asset—a man's flock of sheep. They guided the sheep, protected them, gave them water in an arid land, healed their wounds and sheared them. The shepherd knew his sheep well, and disciplined and trained them. In Old and New Testaments, “good shepherd” is a term used to describe both Yahweh and Jesus.

We, too, are shepherds. We shepherd our children when we discipline, guide and encourage them; when we teach them how to interact with others, how to socialize in acceptable ways, how to express themselves creatively. We shepherd causes and businesses when we work as a leader who knows how to bring out the best everyone has to offer. We shepherd ourselves when we stop long enough to take stock, to rest and watch the stars, to refresh ourselves by ocean waves or “still waters.”

A shepherd has to be strong enough to carry a new-born lamb, or a straying sheep on his/her shoulders. Strong enough to flip a full-grown sheep onto its back for shearing. He must be courageous enough to face lions and wolves and defend the flock's youngest and weakest against attack. We are shepherds when we tenderly care for “the least of these” whether that is a sick friend, an aging parent, or a tiny baby. When we realize that the most vulnerable among us require the best we have to offer. We are shepherds when we calm the nervous flock by being peaceful souls ourselves. When we heal their wounds, both physical and emotional.

The shepherds at Bethlehem were the first to hear the message of Jesus' birth because he would become one of them. He would shepherd his flock as they did, only his flock would be people like you and me. I hope you have opportunities to be a good shepherd today, and to allow others to shepherd you.

                                                             In the Spirit,

                                                                 Jane