I am an avid reader of The Guardian Weekly which arrives in our letter box every Friday and so updates me on what is happening in distant and not so distant places. Some “hopelessness” headlines for the week beginning 23 August include:
“Torrential rain heaps misery on displaced people” [in Sudan]
“First polio case in 25 years [in Gaza] as UN calls for vaccination”
“Ships [from China and Philippines] collide near disputed shoal in South China Sea”
“Wild fires [in Canada] produced a decade’s worth of blaze emissions”
“Gaza’s true death toll concealed beneath rubble”
“In suburbs of Athens, wildfires leave trail of ravaged lives”
“Disappearances [in Kenya] send chill through tax protests”
“Guns and drugs fuel alarming epidemic of violence [in the Caribbean]”
(see The Guardian Weekly, 23 August 2024, Vol. 211, No. 8)
It can be depressing, but after reading through some of the articles, I received a text from our next-door neighbour to say one of her two pregnant sheep had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl. I rushed over to see these wonderful signs of new life, amazed that less than eight hours after their birth, the two lambs were up and about, and awed at their mother’s watchful gaze. We were not to get too close!! Seeing new life got me thinking about the powerful metaphors around shepherds in the bible. I remembered Ezekiel’s words:
“Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Eze 34:1-4).
The so-called leaders responsible for the awful events reported in The Guardian demonstrate that Ezekiel’s words, so true of Israel over 2500 years ago, are still true today of our political leaders.
I remembered too Jesus’ words:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11-15).
Political leaders today whether in Myanmar, France, Canada, New Zealand, or Kenya emerge as having more in common with Ezekiel’s wicked shepherds than with John’s good shepherd.
The lambs reminded me of new life and of our obligation to engage with others at the political and socio-economic levels to ensure new life for all. Such engagement is not without risk, and in some countries, it is more risky than in others. But none of us who profess to be followers of Jesus executed by imperial and religious rulers of his day, can absent ourselves from such involvement. We must be signs of hope for those who experience hopelessness all too often.
Susan Smith RNDM is a lecturer emerita in The University of Auckland’s Department of Theology. Her PhD was on developments in Catholic missiology after Vatican II. After her retirement from The University of Auckland, Susan also provided NT modules for the University of Newcastle, Australia, and a Women in Leadership module for Duquesne University. Susan lives with another member of her congregation in Whangarei, New Zealand, where both are committed to exploring experientially what it means to live in an eco-community. Both are involved in neighborhood environment organizations. They are particularly interested in what might shape eco-spiritualities in New Zealand.
In reading your post, a quote of Wendell Berry’s returned to mind: “Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.” In a suffering world, may there always be new-born lambs. And may I see them.
Thank you for your inspiring article. I have been reflecting our own situation here in Myanmar and other parts of the world. May God be our hope in these difficult times.
These big headlines can be so overwhelmingly hopeless. Yet, you’ve contrasted them with the hope given by the birth of these tiny lambs. When reflecting on your piece, I am reminded how it’s often the little things we do that make a difference—for good or ill. Thank you, Susan.