Thinking Anew – Wolves and sheep

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice . . . Being described as either a sheep or as part of a flock is not generally considered to be a compliment. It is almost offensive as it conflicts with our general impression of ourselves. Most of us think ourselves as bright, open-minded and informed. These are not traits that we associate with sheep and flocks.

Belonging

Being part of a flock is not near as offensive as it might sound. Quite often, our membership may be as a result of well-placed trust. It can educate and enlighten us. It can create a sense of belonging and of confidence for the cautious. It can bring comfort to the distressed and companionship to the lonely. Being part of a herd has a great dignity which we can only whisper about.

Socially, politically, religiously and ethically, we attach ourselves voluntarily to all sorts of herds. It is instinctive for us to make associations and, for the most part, we thrive better as a flock than we would as a pack.

Respect

Our choice to use the word for a group of placid creatures that co-exist peacefully was deliberate. A group that gathers for mutual support and protection does so in a climate of mutual respect.

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A pack, on the other hand, exploits the weaknesses of other herds for its own advantage. This is not an attitude that is compatible with the teachings of Jesus although his followers, to our eternal shame, have often not respected that.

Truly practiced, our faith is one of genuine attractiveness and is not really suited to conscription.

Doves

Being part of a flock is not an indication of weakness. As much as we were sent out as lambs among wolves, we were advised to be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves. Christian society is designed to exist peacefully as sheep even when there are packs of wolves all around it. It is possible to live as a lamb among wolves even though it has its risks. Controlling the wolves, or abolishing them completely, is always an attractive dream. After 2,000 years of such effort, most of us know it was ever just a dream. There will always be new wolves. Dealing with them intelligently, yet peacefully, is the challenge for the flock.

This is all the more so when we remember that, unlike real flocks, wolves arise from among us.

As often as we use a word like flock we do not use a word like intelligence. This is rather strange considering it is our intellect and will that defines us as different from other animals.

Analogy

Sometimes we need to exercise that intelligence and learn to understand where an analogy starts and ends.

We were never expected to be sheepish. Can sheep forgive? Forgiveness is the foundation of Jesus’s flock.

Love may be its passion but even love cannot thrive where mercy is absent. Being part of his flock requires a lot more than intelligence. It requires patience, kindness, understanding and many other qualities that makes heavy demands on our wilfulness and intelligence. The brutish life of a pack makes no such demands.

Friend

Aside from that, although many of us consider ourselves to be friends with animals, there is a stark fact confronting the human flock. We gather other creatures around us and describe them as domesticated. That means that they stay because we feed or fence them. There is only one animal on this planet that considers us to be a friend that is genuinely worth standing by.

Strangely enough that animal was once a wolf.