In
the fourth week of Easter, we are invited to imagine God as Shepherd. This
image comes to us from the Jewish tradition. The Lord as shepherd who tends
gently and lovingly amidst creation is one of the many intimate images of the
divine presented by Hebrew prophets and poets. What a contrast to the reckless
and mischievous and even childish images of the gods handed down through other
ancient cultures.
I look around today and I wonder who experiences or even thinks of God as shepherd? People feel more harassed and herded than tended, I think. There is a distance growing between the soul of humanity and the heart of God. God is not trusted. Humanity is staking out on its own. The “gods” have become mischievous and untrustworthy, again.
I don’t blame people’s exodus from trusting
God as Shepherd, so much misrepresentation. But like the psalmists who wrote of
God as Shepherd in their own day amidst more common images of angry and warrior
gods, the message of Easter invites us to trust again in the God who tends and
guides us along life’s pathways to the places of goodness, compassion, and
belonging.
Fr.
Richard
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