Hanging in the Field

Hey readers! I hope that you are all stoked for the Thanksgiving holiday! It is such a great time of year as we approach the Advent season next weekend and prepare for Our Lord's birth.

I have never seen this image of the Good Shepherd before. There is such a peacefulness about it and a profound connection between the lamb and the Lamb of God. It made me think of the passage in Scripture of Christ and the Samaritan woman, where He says to her, "give Me to drink." If we are seeking Him, He is seeking us all the more. 

This picture also says to me that there is a shared life between the lamb and the Good Shepherd. This sharing looks different throughout our lives. Sometimes we are on Tabor and sometimes we are on Calvary. One thing we often forget when it seems things are plateauing in our lives, is that sometimes the Good Shepherd is just hanging out in the field with His sheep and resting there. Content not to be moving in any particular direction, but "taking in" the present. It is at these times that there can be tremendous interior growth that we may not even realize.

The important part about this is that Christ is present within it all. There is never a time when God is not there. It is not our job to "figure things out," but to listen to His voice and let Him lead. Are we asking ourselves the right questions? Maybe we need to think differently. The first thing to ask is the same question He asked Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection, "whom do you seek?" She was so absorbed in wanting to find Him, she could not even see Him right in front of her.

If you find yourself hanging in the field with no clear path, remember that it's not a fork in the road. There are not two roads to holiness and union with God. A compass guides you north, south, east, and west and often a variety of those throughout life. Look for that shared life with Christ. Not that it doesn't matter where you are headed, but it will take the pressure off having to find answers. If we are so absorbed in Him maybe, just maybe we will find our joy in this peaceful moment at the stream between the lamb and Agnus Dei.