Scripture: Jeremiah 50:6-7
My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said, recipe ‘We are not guilty, no rx
for they sinned against the Lord, unhealthy their verdant pasture,
the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’

Thought for the Day: We don’t like to think of ourselves as ‘sheep’. America especially encourages individualism and invention—thinking differently has been turned into marketing speak. We’re not sheep! But 500 years before Jesus (the 6^th Century BCE), both sheep and shepherds were as important to civilization as oil and gun lobbies are to ours. Talk about being led astray.

Yet, God is always with us, always working to get us back on track. We can help, you know? We don’t have to be passive players in God’s activity in the world. Being sheep doesn’t mean we have to be sheepish. God begs us to join in the eternal dance of love and peace that is the very engine of creation. It’s an offer to live differently, to truly think differently. Instead of congressional gridlock, congressional cooperation. Instead of weapons, words. Instead of suffering, salvation. God is my shepherd. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: I am happy to follow your Lead, God of grace and beauty. Thank you for finding me, waking me up, and leading me to your verdant, eternal pasture, where peace and love are normal, not war and hate. Amen.