Agnus Dei

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Christians like to refer to themselves as sheep, guided by the shepherd that is their lord. No doubt they feel comforted knowing that a shepherd watches over them and protects them. Yet, it doesn't take much to consider the implications of being a sheep.

Sheep are wolly-headed, easily led off (for good or for evil, no one knows) and prone to falling into the herd mentality. If this were not so, they would not need shepherds to watch over them. And because shepherds understand that sheep are just that, they do not blame them for their actions, even if they are greatly inconvenienced by them. Indeed, if a sheep goes astray, it is the shepherd who is blamed. After all, sheep do not know any better, and the shepherd is the one who has been entrusted with their care.

It might also be profitable to ask why shepherds watch over and protect sheep. Is it because they are charitable, kind or good-hearted? Nay. Shepherds are self-interested beings, like almost all other humans, so we do not expect that they will spend most of their day watching their flock as it grazes merely out of the goodness of their heart. Of course, it's also a good excuse for them play the pan pipes, that's more of a fringe benefit than anything else.

Shepherds, then, have 3 uses for sheep. They either fleece them for their wool, kill them for their meat or screw them when no one is looking (in the absence of willing and available human females). One does not have relationships with sheep, for they are meant to be exploited by their shepherds.


"We enter church, and we have to say, 'We have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep,' when what we want to say is, 'Why are we made to err and stray like lost sheep?'" - Thomas Hardy

[Cross-posted to Recovering Christians]

[Ed: I just realised that this is close reading. HAH!]