“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” – Isaiah 10:10

The Bible mentions sheep more often than any other animal, Jesus was, of course, a shepherd, and the idea of the shepherd has touched the human spirit throughout history. In Christianity, God is the shepherd, his worshipers the devoted sheep.

Some people have sheep and some are shepherds, and they are not the same thing. As the Bible says, the shepherd gathers his lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Shepherds have the most intimate relationship with their sheep, they help bring them into the world and they help them leave the world. I love the quote from Isaiah and often repeated it aloud. I have been the owner of sheep and, at times, a shepherd.

When I bought the first Bedlam Farm in Hebron, Rose and I would often take the sheep off of the farm and into the woods. Sometimes we even came into town to move the church lawn there. I so loved those walks up and over the hill, we found green pastures and deep woods, Rose kept the sheep together and I walked ahead or behind with my big crook, they were close to my heart and brought me great peace.

“John 10:14: I am the good shepherd, I know my own sheep, and they know me.”

In Hebron, I carred St. Augustine’s City of God with me on our walks, and I often read it aloud, to Rose and the sheep. The sheep seemed seemed disinterested, Rose listened. There is a profound spirituality beyond religion to being a shepherd, I think it is the softest and gentlest thing in history.

On the new farm, I can’t really walk the sheep out into the woods. But I can stand and sit with them and be with the dogs while they guide them. I think it has fallen to Maria to be their shepherd.

I was a city boy, an urban boy, and the rise of the shepherd was a powerful spiritual experience for me. Today, on our new farm, Maria is the shepherd, I am the person who owns sheep and works with them and my herding dogs. Equally satisfying, but different.

This morning, Maria went over to the feeder and sat down next to the sheep, she was inches from them, and they were at ease with her, they stayed close and kept on eating. I thought of her love for them, and of her gentle ways with them, and their comfort with her. I know my sheep, and they know me.

I thought of Isaiah, and I thought that she is the shepherd now.