THOUGHTS OF A NUN

The Lost Sheep

Feast of the Three Hierarchs: Luke 15.1-11
January 30, 2006

Since I was a child, I’ve wondered what happened to the 99 sheep that were left behind while the shepherd went looking for the one who had strayed. This is one scenario. I've read that this was a common practice in those days.

Picture a rocky countryside dotted with small villages. The families living there each own a herd of sheep. The pastureland is not fenced and the sheep all mingle while grazing. When it is time to return, a sheep is missing. The shepherd of the missing sheep takes off after it and the other shepherds take all the sheep back to the village. Later, if in the distance the villagers can see the shepherd returning with a sheep draped over his shoulders, there is a joyful shout. With this parable, Jesus illustrated the joy the Divinity has over the turning back to God of even one
single person and the care and concern for each of us.

This care and concern for the lost sheep in today’s gospel as well as the joy of the woman finding the lost drachma, made me think of some of the varied questions and comments that I’ve heard or read about God’s part in the recent Tsunami disaster.

• Could not God the almighty One have prevented this terrible loss of life? Or,
• God was punishing them because they are unbelievers. Or,
• God punished them because of the sins of the wealthy, especially in the USA. Or,
• once sin or free choice came into the world, matter has never been right or whole; therefore there are these natural phenomenon, sometimes called, disasters.  Or,
• God created the world and these movements in matter, like earthquakes that cause things like Tsunamis, are what enabled earth to be habitable for creatures such as ourselves. Therefore, these types of things could never be considered punishments, no matter how much suffering is involved.

Where does God come into the picture? In today’s gospel, Jesus shows us that God loves not only the 99 good but also the one who strayed. Let us understand that God is grieving with us rather than blame God for our suffering. God is with us and offers to help us turn our suffering into life. God helping us does not justify the causes for any suffering. Nor is there any guarantee that suffering will inevitably lead to life. That is indeed the danger of our freedom to choose. We have the option of choosing life or choosing death.

In this 21st century, I can see God as the creative force of healing and transformation in the universe. This aspect of God is the source of love, kindness, generosity, social justice, peace and evolving consciousness. This healing and transformation permeates every ounce of being, every cell, and unifies all being as it moves the universe toward greater and greater levels of love,  connection and consciousness. It makes possible the transcending of that which keeps us from living more fully in accord with God’s aspiration for a world of love, compassion, justice, peace and generosity.

Way back in the 4th century, one of the three saints we are commemorating today, Basil, changed the earlier direction of monastic practice of individual feats of asceticism to the importance of community. He stressed the ideal of becoming a society in which the love of God and love of neighbor could be cultivated in tandem, together. The generosity of so many for the survivors of the Tsunami is a reflection of the God within each one of us. Let us continue to work creatively to bring about the world that God’s love intended it to be.