When my father left the farm in North Dakota at the age of 37, and moved west to work in a paper mill, he was able to wash the dirt from under his fingernails but never from his soul. For the next 48 years he kept up with the price of oats and barley, and read the Rugby weekly newspaper. And when he settled in Washington state, he bought a house in the country, which sat on a hilly 2 ½ acres of land covered with trees, wild grass, blackberry bushes, and thistles. My father was at constant war with those thistles. It was land that would not be farmed, but one could keep a few sheep and a couple of goats for the sake of memory and loss.

I was, at times, the shepherd of those sheep. There was a creek which ran next to our land, at the bottom of the hill on the south side. It was never deep or wide, so if one wanted, it could be walked across. One day those sheep tried and got stuck in the middle of that muddy creek. I found them that way and knew I had to get them out. I was alone in the task, but with some effort and time, I finally succeeded to getting them back to dry land.

Later that sane day, I went to check on them, and found them in the middle of that same creek, stuck pretty much in the same spot.

I do not remember if it was that summer or another, but one day I went looking for those sheep and found their bodies in the corner of a fence line. That is where the wild dogs finally caught them and ripped their throats out.

It has been thought that sheep are not intelligent, and they do fall below the pig and are on par with the cow in IQ. But they have this: they stick together, and they recognize the faces of other sheep and remember those faces for years. And this too, they recognize the faces of human beings.

So Jesus says of his sheep, “I know my own and my own know me.”

his name is Jesus

and he is lamb

and he is shepherd

sent by God

for he is son

born among us

so God came

this gentle one

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

lamb of God

without spot

nor blemish

yet slaughtered

yet slain

yet dead

lamb of God

now shepherd

of the earth

now prince

of peace

now risen

from the dead

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

searching for the

lost and scattered ones

lost in hunger

lost in fear

lost in sadness

longing for

a shepherd's voice

to hear

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

leading us

with grace filled

words

words of peace

words of justice

words of welcome

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

see him now with

eyes of faith

for still he comforts

still he leads us

hold him close

this lamb of God

follow him still

this good shepherd

we are sheep

and we are shepherds

sometimes lost

and scattered too

yet we seek

to find

the missing

the wounded

the broken

to listen

to heal

to forgive

because we have been

found

and healed

and forgiven

his name is Jesus

and he is lamb

and he is shepherd

and he is good

Gary