Practicing Resurrection - Follow the Shepherd

O my Beloved, You are my shepherd, I shall not want;

You bring me to green pastures for rest

and lead me beside still waters renewing my spirit;

You restore my soul.

You lead me in the path of goodness

to follow Love's way.

~Psalm 23 from Psalms for Praying, Nan Merrill

It is lambing season in England right now, and the stories I hear about the devotion of the shepherds make this allegory of Jesus as the Good Shepherd so very clear. The stories about shepherds in the Middle East during the time of Jesus make it even clearer...Shepherds would lie at the entrance to the sheepfold as the gate, for protection and security. That protection and guarding combined with the shepherd knowing each sheep's name and the sheep recognizing the shepherd's voice gives me great comfort when I think of what it means to follow the Good Shepherd. I may be as simple as a sheep, but I know my Shepherd's voice and he knows my name and if I follow him, I follow Love's way and "I shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved forever."