The Sheep Dog Spirit

Sometimes we deal with difficult people.  Sometimes those people are your own children or grandchildren.  Sometimes they are people at work or folks you may not even like, or choose to be around.

If you are a follower of Jesus you are always wanting to ‘love God and love others’, but when the later command of ‘loving others’ is particularly difficult what do we do?  We often don’t know the best way to guide or be present for that child, co-worker, or friend who seems to be set on a certain path we wouldn’t advise.

I recently encountered a metaphor that helps in thinking about how as Christians staying connected to God is the best way to guide those we want to help, advise, and nurture.  It’s called the Sheep Dog Spirit and was written by Evelyn Underhill in her book “The Mount of Purification” (1927).  She wrote this after observing the relationship between sheep dogs and their shepherd.

…[The sheep dogs] were helping the shepherd to deal with a lot of very active sheep and lambs, to persuade them into the right pastures, to keep them from rushing down the wrong paths. And how did the successful dog do it? Not by barking, fuss, ostentatious authority, any kind of busy behaviour. The best dog that I saw never barked once; and he spent an astonishing amount of his time sitting perfectly still, looking at the shepherd. 

The communion of spirit between them was perfect. They worked as a unit. Neither of them seemed anxious or in a hurry. Neither was committed to a rigid plan; they were always content to wait. That dog was the docile and faithful agent of another mind. He used his whole intelligence and initiative, but always in obedience to his master’s directive will; and was ever prompt at self-effacement. 

The little mountain sheep he had to deal with were amazingly tiresome, as expert in doubling and twisting and going the wrong way as any naughty little boy. The dog went steadily on with it; and his tail never ceased to wag.

What did that mean? It meant that his relation to the shepherd was the center of his life; and because of that, he enjoyed doing his job with the sheep, he did not bother about the trouble, nor get discouraged with the apparent results. The dog had transcended mere dogginess. His actions were dictated by something right beyond himself. 

He was the agent of the shepherd, working for a scheme which was not his own and the whole of which he could not grasp, and it was just that which was the source of the delightedness, the eagerness and also the discipline with which he worked. But he would not have kept that peculiar and intimate relation unless he had sat down and looked at the shepherd a good deal.”

There are so many rich truths in this metaphor.  The sheep dog was “an agent of another mind”; he didn’t ‘seem anxious or in a hurry’; and ‘his tail never ceased to wag.” But probably my favorite point is the key to the Sheep Dog Spirit: “looking at the shepherd a good deal”.  Looking at the Shepherd comes in the quiet and stillness of spending time with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The key to knowing how to guide others is to never take your eyes off God. Just like the sheep dog, we need to spend “an astonishing amount of our time sitting perfectly still, looking at the Shepherd.”

One thing have I asked of the LORD,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD

and to inquire in his temple.

[Ps 27:4]

When we receive the rest and peace that comes from gazing at the Shepherd, then we will know better how to guide others he puts in our path and under our care.

Blessings and peace,

Rev. Todd and Dr. Christiane