Sheep Thoughts

Our car came to a complete stop on the winding mountain road. The herd of sheep meandered across the highway. They sashayed their way across the road to munch on a few mouthfuls of grass. The shepherd tried to hurry them across the asphalt, but to no avail.

Although several cars were delayed on their way up to Bryce National Park, no one seemed to mind. The people in the cars enjoyed watching the unexpected wooly spectacle—sheep and their shepherd making their way through life. 

As we waited for the road to clear, my imagination took over. Thoughts floated through my mind—sheep thoughts.

Sheep thought: “I belong to no one.”

The Shepherd says, “You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God, says the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 34:31 NLT) 

Sheep thought: “I am lost.”

The Shepherd says, “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” (Ezekiel 34:11 NIV) 

Sheep thought: “No one cares.”

The Shepherd says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark 6:34 (NIV) 

Sheep thought: “I am afraid.”

The Shepherd says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11 NIV) 

Sheep thought: “This is my shepherd!”

The Shepherd says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” John 10:14 (NIV) 

 Sheep thought:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake. (Psalm 23:1-3 NIV)

The road clears and we drive on  . . . life goes on . . .

Seeking the Mystery,

Susanne

Born 700 Years Too Late

It seems, according to our cultural standards, I was born approximately 700 years too late. My body doesn’t fit in 2013. In past cultures, especially renaissance Europe, I might have been a beauty—maybe even a cover girl

I recently read In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant. The cover was a famous portrait of Titian titled The Venus of Urbino. The painting portrayed a woman who was the epitome of a beautiful woman of the 1500’s. Sigh…yes, 700 years too late.

 

In the past, curvaceous women were desirable and considered sexy. Classic art reveals the painters thoughts on women—fleshy women were appealing.  

Of course, women then found it difficult to fulfill that image of beauty too. Food was not plentiful. To be curvaceous, meant that you had money and status. You would be able to produce healthy babies. These women were in the upper stratus of society. Most women would be lean, scrawny and scrambling for food.

Now, with bounteous tables and garbage cans overflowing with wasted food, it’s more difficult for women to remain thin. So of course, that's what society demands. The thin at all costs is a product of modern culture during times of plenty. The bane of women—achieve that which is most difficult in whatever culture they are born into. 

But I guess it all evens out in the end.  A quote from In the Company of the Courtesan said something like this,  “As women age, the thin ones wither and turn to leather. The heavy ones become loose and flabby.” So true!

It’s what the Scripture says,  

^\Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

Seeking the Mystery,