People are like sheep.
Isn’t that why we have the Christian metaphor of the Good Shepherd? Someone who will tell us right from wrong, who will keep us safe from harm, who will tuck us snugly in the warm blankets of heaven on that last and most frightening darkest night of the soul?
Not all people are like sheep, though. There are a few who prefer – or stumble into – the role of shepherd. They are smarter and more intelligent than the flock they aspire to lead. Some of them aspire to the role of shepherd out of love and compassion for the poor sheep, who, by their nature, are truly helpless. Others aspire to the role of shepherd out of the delusion they know what’s best – at least for themselves – and will take the flock by whatever means they can.
All shepherds and hopeful shepherds have a message for the flock. But the sheep have difficulty discerning among those who would help them from those who would harm them. After all, they are just sheep.
Many people, like sheep, don’t have – or don’t utilize – the capacity to discern the truth and make skillful decisions about what’s in thier own long-term best interests and the best interests of those who share the pasture. Because, like sheep, they can only know what their immediate instincts tell them. And the instincts of sheep aren’t very good. Can a sheep tell when the butcher walks into the pen with a loaded rifle?
But we’re really not’t sheep. And it is possible to separate the good shepherds from the bad shepherds – if we’d really care to take a close look at them and listen carefully to their messages.
Is the message filled with compassion, hope, love, tolerance, and concern for the welfare of everyone in the flock? Or is the message filled with hatred of “the other,” fear that “the other” will take what’s “yours,” and intolerance of anyone who doesn’t accept the message? What’s the overall demeanor of those who would aspire to lead you? How do they live their lives – not just when they are in the spotlight, but when no one is looking? Are they kind, gentle and honest; are they authoritarian, overbearing, and deceptive; are they generous, or greedy for money, fame, and power? Are they wise or deluded? Although it may take a long time and require some effort, it really isn’t so hard to discern the truth.
Providing truth is what you really want.
The photo collage is of some notable shepherds, some of whom are speaking to their flocks. Can you tell the good ones from the bad ones? In the picture are, in no particular order: the Buddha, Jerry Fallwell, Benazir Bhutto, Idi Amin, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, Anwar Sadat, Jimmie Carter, Menachem Begin, Mother Teresa, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Rush Limbaugh, Nelson Mandela, Joseph Stalin, Pat Roberson, Dick Cheney, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King, Mao Zedong, Mahatma Ghandi, Barack Obama, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Dorothy Day, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jesus, who is shone once as the Good Shepherd and again preaching the Sermon on the Mount.
*This post was inspired by this story, sent to me by someone suggesting that Barack Obama is leading the United States down the same path as did Adolf Hilter lead Germany.
2 Comments
Interesting couple of posts, Paul, discussing how “truth” is perceived so differently by different people.
I’d like to believe you’re right, that a “shepherd” is rather easy to identify, when you look closely. Yet we both know many, many people, otherwise reasonable, who believe in the message of characters like Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. At the end of the day, it seems to me that these people, and their followers, hold an inherent belief that the universe is a hostile place to humankind, whereas Ghandi, Jesus, etc. generally encourage us to believe in benevolence. Even Hitler was widely perceived as a savior to the Germans, which says something to me about the strength of fear in the world.
Mercurious, my thoughts here are strictly from the point of view that most people operate from a base of greed, hatred, and – most importantly – delusion. That goes for the Palins and Cheneys and Hitlers, too, as well as their followers. But these leaders know they are manipulating the masses (or they are in denial of it, perhaps).
It does surprise me that so many of these people who claim to be followers of Christ are so downright mean and hateful. It may be a technicality, and maybe I’m stretching the association, but isn’t there a commandment about taking God’s name in vain?
And right you are about fear. I contend that fear is a powerful motivator that is present in most of us most of the time.
Talk about ye of little faith.