Picture It

There are times when just a word brings a picture to mind.  When the picture is really intense you get a movie clip instead of a snapshot.  There have been times, rare I admit, when just a single word or smell has triggered a feature length movie!  Sometimes I am in them, on a few occasions the lead character is my self morphed into the performance of some great athlete, and then there are the inspiring great heroes.  I wish I knew what the trigger was and is, because I love the experience if my own personal show.  The colors, textures, emotions, intensity, and experience are so real I know it is more that just imagination!
 
As I read a meditation this morning I came across the intro to a story.  The scene has triggered a series of short films that has my mind searching for the meaning of the picture within.  “The shepherd walks right up to the gate.  The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  (John 10.2, 3)
 
You and I, most of us, don’t live near a farm.  We are not farmers.  We wouldn’t know what to do on a farm other than to soil our feat.  Yet the words on the page triggers a memory of the vivid smell of sheep along with the texture of their wool as go past.  I can hear the sounds of the herd; it is almost coordinated music except for the young ones who seem to be in a world of their own.  There is little doubt in my mind that the shepherd is acting with intent and purpose.  Yet in the midst of the chaos I have an enfolding sense of the compassion flooding from every movement.
 
As I watch in silence I am caught in the opportunity you and I have today to make a difference.  We may not use a rod or staff, yet our decisions and actions can be a guide to those searching.