Shepherd me, O Lord

As our Easter celebration continues, the Gospel has Jesus sharing His loving message:  He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for us; He knows us, and we know Him; He seeks to unite us all.  In all of life He offers us the gift of His Love…the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11-18)

For many of us in 21st century United States, our image of “sheep” and “shepherding” relies simply on textbook knowledge or the occasional ride through the countryside.  We may have various types of household pets, yet we lack the full understanding that Jesus imparts in His image of shepherding, protecting, and caring for a flock of sheep in the everyday world of times past.

In researching for this meditation, I found that sheep have a particularly aggravating vice.  As Garrison Keillor puts it, “sheep are fine as long as sheep do what sheep want to do, but when a shepherd tries to get sheep to do what he wants them to do, many people get out of the shepherding business.”  Thank God our loving Shepherd has not “gotten out of the shepherding business.”  That is not to say that each human being, “created in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26), is on a par with sheep.  The point is, even in our weakest moments, the Shepherd is always seeking us out to bring us back to Him who loves us and cares for us unconditionally.

Jesus the Good Shepherd speaks to us today.  As our world experiences the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Risen Jesus speaks to us today as He did to the men and women of long ago: “I care!”  “I love you!”  Wracked by the illness, death, fear and uncertainty so evident today, we meet the Risen Jesus who as a gentle shepherd reaches out to us with His hands of love that are marked by the nails of crucifixion; Jesus the Good Shepherd walks with us on the road of life, His feet marred by the nails of crucifixion; Jesus the Good Shepherd looks us in our eyes and lovingly sees into the depths of our hearts.  Jesus knows us well, what it is to suffer; we are not alone as we deal with life today!

As people of faith, we are invited to deeper trust, to a renewed realization that we are not alone, that both security and goodness are shared with us in ordinary and extraordinary ways, that healing and life and growth and love are real…in Jesus!  Jesus knows us well … and loves us dearly! 

As I write this, I am quietly singing a song to myself that I had no idea I even knew by heart!  Well…the refrain, to be exact:

“Shepherd me, O God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into life.”