23 September 2015
Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Voice Lessons
Today was but a short 16km walk. Most of the walk was a
gradual incline until we reached a brutal incline much like trying to climb a
ski slope. It was about a 20 degree
slope for over 5km. Many stops and
breathers were needed. My crabby right
knee is managing, but my blisters are crying out on the same toes. God be merciful.
Upon reaching the top of the climb I was rewarded with a
rare sight. There on a rolling plateau was a large green pasture. Surprisingly
there was a shepherd herding his sheep. He calmly and deliberately plodded
along with his sheep following. I spent some time just observing the whole
process of shepherding. There were
several hundred sheep up on the short rise grazing. Their heads were fixed on
the grass below while chomping ravenously and oblivious to the entire world
around them. The shepherd started
walking toward the other end of the field toward the road and whole scene unfolded.
There were some sheep who were attentive to the shepherd’s
movement, looked up intently and sheep galloped to keep up with him. They stared up at the shepherd’s face as if
to seek for any new clue of the shepherd’s direction. As he walked, they followed in step with
his. There were some who missed the first
clue and were looking around, and if I was to guess by their behavior, they
were saying, “Hey, where did he go?”
Seeing that he shepherd and others had moved on, they scampered to get
rejoined. What was particularly interesting is that the late arrivals maneuvered
their way deep into the flock nearer and nearer to the shepherd. Then there were those sheep who missed all
the clues. They were far back and were lost in a self-indulgent gorging of themselves
on one luscious green patch after another.
Their heads and eyes were fixated down at filling themselves with their
own pleasure of filling themselves.
I saw myself in the behaviors of all of these sheep at some
time in my life. How about you?
The behavior of the shepherd was fascinating as well. I recall that he moved in a deliberate and
confident manner. His every step matched
the speed of the sheep, or was is the other way around? Nonetheless, they
walked… together. He was at the head of the flock, but the sheep were not far
behind. When he stopped, they immediately went back to grazing. A
quick glance around and the shepherd noticed some starting to trail
behind.
As he started to plod ahead he made a simple sound that
alerted all the sheep. It was not a word as so much a sound he made, “Che Che!”
a short, staccato sound like the word “cheek” but without the “k” sound. For however weird that might mean to humans,
it had a remarkable effect on the sheep. They all reacted like we would to the sound
of a fire alarm. Heads popped up, eyes
searching for the shepherd, and an instantaneous obedience to follow. A few more steps and a “Che Che Che!” and the
entire flock moved along with their shepherd guiding them. Every so often a few sheep would start to
stray from alongside of him. He used his staff with a gentle tap and they
returned to walk in obedient progression with him once again. There was an
undeniable and loving relationship between the sheep and the shepherd.
I watched before my very eyes Jesus’ message in John’s
gospel, “I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice.” Yes, it was an
observation of Jesus’ “Voice Lesson.” It may never be a “Che Che!” sound He
makes, but his voice will call us back to walk with him. And like those sheep
today, his voice is distinct, it is confident, it is protective of us. My/Our
challenge is to take a “Voice Lesson.”
That is, be attentive to his gentle voice calling out to us.
Our challenge is to discriminate his voice from the voice of
the world’s screaming for attention to worthless things. The world screams for
frantic activity; his voice calls us to peace. The world screams for frenzied attention
to what popular culture thinks: his voice calls us to scriptural truth. The
world offers temporary stress relief in many forms, his voice calls us to hope
in his promises. The world allures us to
temporary infatuations; his voice call us to a love beyond understanding.
“I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice.” It was endearing message of the beauty of His
voice, for me, for you.
Listen. Just listen, for His voice. It is near, I promise.
Fondly,
Deacon Willie, DW
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