Real

“‘All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door…’” (John 10:1-2).

The Good Shepherd (Icon)

Sometimes things that appear good are actually bad and things that appear bad are actually good.

I have only to think of some very simple things.

For example, it may appear that people are in a good mood and very happy and satisfied when they drink a little too much alcohol.  Perhaps they become more open, more fun and more friendly.  Perhaps – if they are not drinking excessively, they simply become more relaxed and make better listeners.  And I suppose, that the appearance of that change in a person could be considered good.  After all, is it not good when a person is more friendly and relaxed and more fun to be around.  However, if that relaxation and fun is driven by something that is temporal and something that is not actually a sustainable way to ensure that this continues to happen, then that goodness is not really goodness at all.  Just as a blanket does not hide the mess, but only covers it up, that alcohol does not remove the sadness, stress or responsibility, it just covers it up…

And I have been thinking about that today, for it seems to me that there are so many false gods that we worship…  And I worship them without even thinking about it.  I treat them in the same way that I treat the Good Shepherd.  And Christ Himself warned against this…

“Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’” (John 10:1-10).

Not everything that looks like God is GOD.  Not every sign that appears good, is good.  In the Garden of Eden when Eve decided to listen to the serpent and to sin the Original Sin, she did not do this thinking to herself that she was doing bad.  In her mind she was making a choice that was completely justifiable for the greater good.  And THAT is what I have been thinking today…  For there are so many times in my life when I chose to do the wrong thing and I justify the decision to myself by considering so many other things.  And it seems to me that the missing part in all of this is the Good Shepherd.

If it were the Good Shepherd who was in the front of my mind when I was making whatever decisions I choose to make, then surely I would be able to make decisions that were for the GOOD and not for the BAD.

And today, I feel so much like Eve, that I hang my head in shame.  For I have failed to see the Shepherd who died for my sins…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.