Day 46 - Like Sheep

As I sit here in my time of quiet tonight my eyes are drawn again to the lovely painting of the Lake District Fells, but this time I notice something I didn't see yesterday. It is a small figure in the shadowy foreground followed by a handful of sheep; he is a shepherd. Sheep and shepherds feature often in the Bible. Jesus described Himself as 'The Good Shepherd' and He tells the story of a shepherd who leaves the rest of the flock to search for the one sheep that had wandered off and was lost. I spent much of my time today walking up a hillside in hail, rain and snow at different times, and 'enjoyed' the sensation of dampness and cold for quite a lengthy period of time! The sheep we spotted on the mountainside at least had woolly coats to keep them warm! 

A few years ago I decided to take the scriptures used in Handel's Messiah and read them through each day during Lent. I had a wonderful time concentrating on the many verses that foretell the coming Messiah. One Easter - oh, it must be about twenty years ago now - I listened to a broadcast of the work on the radio and I can only describe it as quite a spiritual experience, I was so moved by the unfolding story of God's plan of salvation for the human race. It remains one of my favourite pieces of music of all time.

Tonight, one of the movements of the work comes to mind, and of course, it is the one about sheep!

"All we, like sheep, have gone astray, We have turned, every one, to his own way..."

The music is so funny, really funny, and Handel built into the melody a wandering which so well describes sheep wandering off. It is so lively and fresh, yet as I listen to it again tonight, I am quite taken aback by the ending, which is suddenly in the minor key and is so beautiful....set to these words, 

"And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Earlier this evening we watched a few minutes of a program on the television which was all about neighbourly disputes; it was a terrible program with the people involved unable to see life from anyone else's point of view. 

"We have turned, every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...."

 If only they knew.