Piddingworth Greg Benton |
| 'Piddingworth...where St. George's Cross is not yet banned.' Mark Steyn |
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| It's very sad news of the recent outbreak of the highly infectious 'foot and mouth' disease in some cattle, swine and sheep in Wiltshire. The symptoms of the disease are fever, followed by the development of blisters, primarily in the mouth or on the feet. Although rarely fatal, except in very young animals, it does cause lameness and reduced milk yields. Farmers have suffered much in recent decades with the scourge of 'mad cow' disease and this new emergency has prohibited the sale of meat from the UK to their markets around the world. The poor creatures themselves will undoubtedly be subject to a widespread and unhappy end. Let us earnestly hope for a quick restoration of good health to the herds. The imagery of the 'calf', the 'lamb' and 'sheep' is a prominent feature and symbol of sacred scripture. Jesus, renewing and transforming the characterisations of the sheep and shepherds of Israel, similarly identified his disciples as 'sheep' and 'lambs' with Himself as the Shepherd. Those to whom he entrusted His sheep he also referred to as 'shepherds' with the solemn duty to guard and watch the flock until He 'comes again'. It is well-known that sheep are not like labrador retrievers (who, of course, are brilliant!) Sheep are dumb. Perhaps that is why the imagery is so apt for God's people. Their almost full-time occupation is that of eating...devouring...grass. I heard once that if sheep didn't have someone to watch over them as they approach a cliff, they would gnaw their way to the edge and drop off. They rarely 'look up' to get their parameters in check and get the lay of the land. They therefore stray easily and can get lost; making them extremely vulnerable to predators such as wolves and coyotes. Sometimes a farmer will employ the services of a donkey as 'watchman' over the herd. This is because donkeys are not afraid of wolves and their powerful, rapid 'kick' can kill a wolf instantly. Without the security of the shepherds, and their remarkable shepherd dogs, the sheep can also scatter...get hurt and suffer all kinds of misery. The Church could use a few more donkeys (certainly not jackasses). Like an infectious 'heart and mind' disease, the recent symptomatic phenomenon of betrayal, falling away, utter confusion, wounding, abandonment, and perversion within many of the traditional Churches is a scandal of enormous proportions. The sheep bite the shepherds, the shepherds hide from the sheep. Flocks are devoured by complacency and indifference. The pews are empty as are so many 'prayers'... even as, somehow, the music in the barnyard remains as magnficent and glorious as ever, whilst it plays out the concert and score of the 'times'. Many of the shepherds are revealed to be as a wolf, where the flock, being dumb, will fall prey to the mendacity and deception of an ecclesial knot that is wrapped more in the depravity and narcissism of popular culture than it is in holiness of the sanctuary. Evil is procliamed to be 'good' and what 'used to be good' is regarded now as evil or at least 'false'? Marriage, the family, sexuality, authority, scripture, sacramental life, vocation, sacred Tradition, true sainthood, Christian duty, among other things, have been blistered by the infection that has blown through the mitres and fancy vestments of bishops and their clergy and onto an unwary flock. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.” He also said: 'My sheep hear my voice, they know me' Whose voice gathers the sheep, protects them and helps them prosper in the pasture? Whose voice deceives them? Could it be that the reason 'the flock' is not listening to the current array of 'shepherds' is because they do not recognise in them the voice of the Good Shepherd. I think so. Yet there is little consolation in this. Bereft of watchful, faithful, courageous and strong shepherds, the flock turns it's ears to other voices in desperation to find the 'meaning' to fill the void. The media's promotion of the lowest of cultural life and a whole variety of 'cultish new age' snake oil is thriving in the ordinary lives of those who once prayed: 'we have erred and strayed like lost sheep; we have followed the devices and desires of our own hearts; and there is no health in us'. Indeed. It is time for the sheep look up and heed the voice of the Good Shepherd whose words are truth and life. edited by G.B. 6Aug07 |
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| DUMB SHEEP & THEIR SHEPHERDS. |
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| A Sussex Bull |