By G. Neil Armstrong

The Shepherd will gather the sheep in so that he can cut their hair. When he corrals the sheep, he will guide them slowly and leisurely. They will bleat contentedly. After all, the Shepherd is guiding them.

            Before the sheep are shorn (haircut), the sheerer will take one into a smaller pen separate from the other sheep. After the wool is all cut down, close to the skin, that sheep will be put again into a larger corral, still separate from the sheep that haven’t been shorn yet.

            Finally, all of the sheep have been shorn, and are now ready to enter again onto “great wide open”. The eager little sheep are huddled hard amass against the exit gate. They know that the Shepherd will open it soon. He always opens the gate when he goes around that way.

            In rapt anticipation, they all press to be the first out of the gate. The sheep bleat even louder now, for the Shepherd is doing something different today. The Shepherd stopped before he got all the way to the exit gate and unlatched a different, much smaller gate. This is no ordinary gate. This is a special gate. This gate leads out to a field so bright with green grass; the sheep seem to be entranced in the aroma.

            The Shepherd senses the anxiety mounting in the nervous sheep, so he quickly opened both gates. The sheep are free to choose which gate they will exit. They no longer care that their wool is cut shorn, to expose their shame. They all seem to want to go through that smaller, special gate. There are so many crowded tightly at the opening of the gate, it seems like the way is blocked as the less patient sheep flood out onto the other fields.

            This other field is not so bad. I mean, there is grass sufficient for the average sheep. Besides, the sheep know this land well and are more likely not to get lost. This land, however, is so vast that if one of these sheep did take to wandering, he could go far and be lost. The grass isn’t as green and the water and shade is off in the distance, but the little guys seem to like it there.

            The other, special gate is jammed now and will be for quite some time. It’s a lot like the humans, the Shepherds in their situations of life. They want so ardently to get somewhere that they will block each others way by crowding them to a standstill. Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14).

Wednesday, December 02, 2009