by Khay See » Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:58 am
What is a shepherd? I know, but yet I do not know. I know the duty and the obligation of being a shepherd. I know what I am supposed to do. But yet sometimes I wonder what am I doing? The search for an answer has always been given in the form of a picture or as close to a pictorial definition as possible. I guess it helps, to a certain degree. But it would not help me to understand what the shepherd’s heart in me is. It is the deep yearning of wanting to know whether my heart is truly a shepherd’s heart. If I want to be a shepherd, I doubt, a picture would help me define myself as one. I can dress like one. I can act like one. But am I still a shepherd? My gut feeling is that I am not. That is my frustration over the years of trying to find an answer, “What is a shepherd?� Colleagues and mentors often referred me to, “Look at so and so … and do what he does. You will be okay.� Some who are more spiritually comprehensive, would direct me to see the “Good Shepherd.� I know. I get that. I understand the metaphor. I am to emulate Jesus. But is that really the answer for someone searching for an answer? To me, being like a Good Shepherd is more of an end result and not the beginning of the search. What happened to the in between, from the point of beginning to the end result? Isn’t the end result for me to be like the Good Shepherd? I want to get there. I am interested in finding out the in-between process. I want to know what will make me a good shepherd.
As the title of the book may suggest, does it begin with my own heart? I am hoping Mr. Laniak will tell me as I read on. My heart – not a bad place to start …
What is a shepherd? I know, but yet I do not know. I know the duty and the obligation of being a shepherd. I know what I am supposed to do. But yet sometimes I wonder what am I doing? The search for an answer has always been given in the form of a picture or as close to a pictorial definition as possible. I guess it helps, to a certain degree. But it would not help me to understand what the shepherd’s heart in me is. It is the deep yearning of wanting to know whether my heart is truly a shepherd’s heart. If I want to be a shepherd, I doubt, a picture would help me define myself as one. I can dress like one. I can act like one. But am I still a shepherd? My gut feeling is that I am not. That is my frustration over the years of trying to find an answer, “What is a shepherd?� Colleagues and mentors often referred me to, “Look at so and so … and do what he does. You will be okay.� Some who are more spiritually comprehensive, would direct me to see the “Good Shepherd.� I know. I get that. I understand the metaphor. I am to emulate Jesus. But is that really the answer for someone searching for an answer? To me, being like a Good Shepherd is more of an end result and not the beginning of the search. What happened to the in between, from the point of beginning to the end result? Isn’t the end result for me to be like the Good Shepherd? I want to get there. I am interested in finding out the in-between process. I want to know what will make me a good shepherd.
As the title of the book may suggest, does it begin with my own heart? I am hoping Mr. Laniak will tell me as I read on. My heart – not a bad place to start …