Familiarity

If you are like me, a kid from a city, you think of shepherds like you think of cattle ranchers.  The animals are out there in the field grazing and you are watching from some distance, fixing fences or doing anything but hanging out with the animals.  But in fact a shepherd is quite different from a cattle rancher.  I live with cattle grazing at the monastery.  No one hangs out with the cattle.  The animals are not familiar with our smell or sounds.  No cow or steer would come within ten meters of us.  They take off if we go near them.  They remember only the branding or piercing to denote ownership.  A sheep is different.  Shepherds live with the sheep in many instances.  It is all a close family.  Sheep need protection from predators.  They need a lot of hands on care.  So a good shepherd is around the sheep all the time, not like the animal is out in a field somewhere grazing.  The sheep don’t see so well and can get lost.  The shepherd is their friend, guardian, protector.  That is why God is not called in scripture, the “Good Cattle Rancher.”  Rather, God is called the “Good Shepherd.”  In prayer, I am the sheep.