Thursday

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?  When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.”—Luke 15:4-5

I’m not sure how Irish farmers discerned their sheep from their neighbors’ sheep way back when, but these days the solution is easy: spray paint!  The Irish countryside is dotted with pink-necked sheep and red-sided sheep, green-headed sheep and blue-chested sheep.  That sheep over there with the orange rump?  That one belongs to McClean.  The nice ones with the fuchsia shoulders on that hill?  They’re the property of Eamon O’Sullivan.  And so it goes.

Sheep aren’t the smartest creatures in the world.  I recall Geoff creeping right up onto the tail of one as it stood absent-mindedly blocking a farm road.  Eventually it noticed our presence and sprang out of the way with an air of unmistakable indignation.  We, too, often fail to recognize dangers until the last minute, don’t we?  Good thing we share something else with the sheep.  We, too, are marked with an indelible spray-paint.  We are marked with the cross of Christ forever.  And who’s to say we can’t envision that as a colorful aerosol smudge? -- LG

Thank you, Lord, for marking us as belonging to you.  Help us heed your call when we feel lost.  You are our safety and our refuge.  Amen.