More From Colin Harbach

Writing about the sheepfold and God's enfolding of our lives comes easily to me.  The greater part of my long pastoral ministry has been spent in remote rural areas where there have always been more sheep than people.  Traveling between walled pastures, open fell, and mountainside has meant that I have never been far from sheep and shepherds, giving me a constant reminder of how the scriptures are full of references to them.  The people of God, as basically nomadic communities, quite naturally used the analogy of the flock and the fold to describe their social and religious life.  It pointed up their dependence on God for care, protection, guidance, and compassion.  It has been said that Psalm 23 is a handbook of shepherding practice. It is also a guide to basic spiritual life — I have often personally proved the words, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing" (Psalm 23:1, NIV).

Living in these beautiful but demanding rural situations has shown me the important and wonderful relationship between shepherd and sheep.  I recall a young boy — the fourth generation on his particular farm — who had inherited the special gift of knowing the sheep.  His father would refer to him to check which lambs belonged to which ewe, and he even had individual names for many of them.  Standing with the boy, looking over a five-barred gate, I learned to pick out various individual characteristics of ewes and lambs.  I saw how, just like a crowd of people, each had its own personality.  It was an assuring reminder of how God knows me as a unique person.

Through the years I have watched the shepherds working night and day through the lambing times, gathering their flocks from the hills, and searching for pregnant ewes in winter snowdrifts — I have seen so many reminders of the scriptures and our special relationship with God.  I am reminded of scriptures the most at the festival times.  During those special Christmas nativity plays, a real lamb is cleaned up and enlisted into the tableau cast for a Carol Service.  The plays bring to life the story of shepherds being the first witnesses of the nativity of the promised Christ, who would be in the line of David, the shepherd King.  During Easter time, I also get a clear reminder of the scriptures. I see newborn lambs in the fields running to their mothers for safety and nourishment, and I remember how in the book of Revelation Jesus is both the Divine Shepherd and the lamb sacrificed to reconcile the whole world to God.

Sheep and shepherds draw me again and again to the Bible message of God's enfolding, forgiving, supplying grace — even for me whom God knows intimately and uniquely.

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You can read more from Colin here: www.friendshipfiles.com.