The King who is a Shepherd

Today is Christ the King Sunday - the last week of "ordinary time" before we start a new year liturgically in the church for Advent.  

I listened to "pray as you go" this morning  and the reading was from Ezekial 34: 11,12, 15, 16

For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹² As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

. ¹⁵ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.  ¹⁶ I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

  Another text for today is Matthew 25: 31-46 which is a parable where Jesus talks about a king and compares him to a shepherd.  

This past week I binge watched "The Crown" which is a story about modern day monarchy . Often you are struck by how distant and grand the lives of the royal family are as compared to the ordinary people.  We talk about worshiping God the "King" but this king is a shepherd who gets "down and dirty" seeking after the lost, strayed, wounded sheep.  When I listened to the text from Ezekiel, I was struck by the words - "I myself" - a God who is intimately involved in the care of the flock.

That has been my experience as I continue to grow in my own faith.  I am coming to the end of another Journal and find myself looking back on what I have written in the past few months.  It all speaks to a relationship with God in which I am being - slowly, slowly, slowly - changed. Changed as in - strengthened, healed, guided, loved.  

One of the phrases I wrote in my journal that I don't want to forget is this

Prayer is being quietly present to love that loves me.

Just that understanding brings hope and healing.  I use the word - Lord - in prayer because I submit myself to one who is greater than I am.  I experience his love as a shepherd that continues to seek me, call me, protect me.  And that gives me peace today.

Here is a poem by Edwina Gately that speaks to me today

Silent God

This is my prayer—
That, though I may not see,
I be aware
Of the Silent God
Who stands by me.
That, though I may not feel,
I be aware
Of the Mighty Love
Which doggedly follows me.
That, though I may not respond,
I be aware
That God—my Silent, Mighty God,
Waits each day.
Quietly, hopefully, persistently.
Waits each day and through each night
For me.
For me—alone.

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