"Can We Hinder the 'Shepherd of Love'; Can We Hinder God?"

Ps. 103:13, NIRV

    Recently we discussed the Shepherd of Love imagery that runs all

through scripture--from the beginning to the end.[1]  But can we human

beings (with our limited powers) get in the way of the great Shepherd

of Love? Can we limit the Shepherd of Love’s reach--God’s reach?

  Few have answered this question more vividly and poignantly than

Jaroslav Pelikan.  He writes:                                                                                       

[Theologians] used to ask . . . "Can God create a stone so

heavy that God himself cannot lift it?"  And if you say No, he

cannot, then of course God is not almighty because he can’t

create such a stone.  And if you say Yes, he can, then of

course God is not almighty because he can’t lift such a

stone. Well, the answer to that question in [St.]

Augustine, as indeed in the Hebrew Bible, is quite simple.  

Yes, there is such a stone: it is the human will, created

by God, but created in such a way that God cannot lift it.

For, as Augustine says, God does not rape; God woos,

and therefore God will take his chances on winning or

losing . . . rather than to interfere with the sacredness of

the human person.[2]

    To see how this might play itself out we will look at two of the greatest

gems in the Bible and place them in dialogue with one another. In each gem the “loving-kindness” of our Shepherd of Love is clear.  

But it is also clear in the second story (interspersed below) that we can

hinder this love.  We can (at least in certain ways) run beyond its reach.  

Watch then as we go back and forth between Psalm 23 and an imaginative

dialogue of what might possibly have been upon the son’s (or daughter's?)

mind in the well known “Parable of the Prodigal Son”; Luke 15.  (Note

also that in the same chapter in Luke we find the almost equally well

known “Parable of the Lost Sheep” and the Shepherd of Love who searches

until it is found and carried safely home.)  

* * *

 

Psalm 23 interspersed with dialogue from “the son” in Luke 15 (as it might be 

imagined):

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

-“But I've learned that I can run away from my Father’s [or Shepherd’s] 

house, and then who knows what will be . . . ?” 

“He makes me lie down in green pastures . . .”

-“But I can also lie down in “far off country” pastures or in wild living and/or 

my own stubbornness.”

“. . . he leads me beside still waters . . .” 

-“But I am free to choose waters that are as churning, riotous, or as 

intoxicating as I might wish.  (Or if I’m the quiet type, I can chose my own 

isolated waters if I wish.)”

“. . . he restores my soul.”

-“So what if I say?: ‘Yeah but, I’d rather have my soul in a stir and/or 

entirely in my own hands!’”

“He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.”

-“Well really, that might sound pretty boring or demanding to me . . .”

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil . . .”

-“But it is all going great!  I’m at the top of my game--no dark valleys in 

sight.  And/or I like things just as they are!”

“. . . for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.”

 -“Well, I feel like I can take care of everything myself right now and in 

my own way.  That rod and staff for comfort business looks entirely 

unnecessary to me at this point.”

“You prepare a table before me  in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head 

with oil; my cup overflows.”

- “But I’m the jolly good type; I have no enemies and doubt I ever will.  

I don’t cross other people, so they don’t bother to cross me.  And oil on 

the head?  Well, maybe that sounds good to some or to the sick, but I’m 

just fine, thank you.  Beyond that, I’m doing pretty well at filling my 

own table--my own cup.”

-“O.K., but my life is good--don’t much see the need for ‘mercy’ right 

now.”

“. . . and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD  my whole life long” (Ps. 23,

NRSV, NRSVCE).

-“Sorry, but I‘d like my own house and my own travels and my own 

ways. I’m doing just fine myself.  Anyone else’s house sounds a bit 

boring or confined--even my father’s [Shepherd’s] house.  I’m ready 

to ‘go it’ on my own!

     “But then . . . the rest of the story began to catch up with me, so 

here is my story--from the beginning” [Luke 15:12-24]:

     A “son spoke to his father. He said, ‘Father, give me my

share of the family property.’  So the father divided his

property between his two sons [v. 12].

 

     “Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had.

Then he left for a country far away. There he wasted his money

on wild living.  He spent everything he had. Then the whole

country ran low on food. So the son didn’t have what he needed.

He went to work for someone. . . . That person sent the son to

the fields to feed the pigs. The son wanted to fill his stomach

with the food the pigs were eating.  But no one gave him

anything [v. 13-16].

(So then the son began to “come to himself”!)

       “Then he began to think clearly again. He said, ‘How many

of my father’s hired servants have more than enough food! 

But here I am dying from hunger!  I will get up and go back

to my father.  I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against

heaven.  And I have sinned against you.  I am no longer fit

to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired

servants.” ’  So he got up and went to his father [v. 17-20a].

 

     “While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him.

He was filled with tender love for his son. He ran to him. He threw

his arms around him and kissed him [v. 20b].

 

    “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and

against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son’ [v. 21].

 

      “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick!  Bring the best robe

and put it on him.  Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his 

feet. . . .  Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  This son of mine was 

dead.  And now he is alive again.  He was lost.  And now he is 

found’” [v. 22-24 of Jesus’ “Parable of the Prodigal Son, 

“Lk. 15:11-24; NIRV, emphasis added].

     Not only is this the son’s story, but this also is the picture of the unrelenting

Shepherd of Love who spans the pages of scripture with abiding “tender

love” for each of us! 

    Such everlasting love also causes God pathos or even pain (as discussed

in a recent post [3] ).  Louis Evely spells this out with special clarity:

To be a father [mother] is precisely to suffer. . . .  [O]ne

suddenly sees oneself as vulnerable, in the most

sensitive part of one’s being. . . . [There is] an infinite

dependency on an infinitely small, frail being,

dependent on us and therefore omnipotent over our

heart. . . .  The strong person who loves a weak person

has put his [her] happiness at . . . [their] mercy. . . . To

love a person . . . [gives them] power over us.  God

loved us freely, God gave us power over him. God

wanted to have need of us. The passion [story of

Jesus] is the revelation of our terrible power over God.  

He surrendered himself to us, we had him at our

disposal, we did with him what we wanted.[4]

                                                                                

     The two gems from scripture discussed today tell us of God’s enduring
faithfulness. And yet, we must choose to abide in this faithfulness.  For

example, the father (or Shepherd of Love) still loves the son with an

abiding love when he is in the “country far away”; but he cannot do what

he would wish about the son’s hunger as long as the son chooses to

keep his distance.  So too, we can keep our distance spiritually.

* * *

We close with thoughts for meditation, prayer/poetry/proverbs:

"Shepherd of Love (a Prayer)" [5]

                                              

                             

     (With reflection upon Jesus’ words: “But while he [the prodigal son]

was still a long way off, his father [Father] saw him and was moved

with pity and tenderness . . . ran and embraced him and kissed him

[fervently];” Lk. 15:20, AMPC.  In meditation any of us can place ourselves

in the prodigal’s place, whatever peculiar situation we may be in.) 

***

An opening to prayer/meditation:

                                 

Settle near to the Shepherd’s heart,       

the Guardian, Keeper, Re-NEWer,          

Lover of our souls,

the hopelessly Mad Lover,

the Companion of our souls.

                                                                               

Find your own long lost center

in the Author of your soul.

                                                                              

     (With reflection upon terms from scripture--1 Pet. 2:25; Jn. 10:11, 14:26;

Heb. 13:20--and spiritual classics[6]; e.g. Catherine of Siena speaks of God

as the “mad lover,” who has fallen in love with the created [us!] and also

of "mad” love that gives all to win us back.[7])

***

Meditation upon Psalm 23 and John 10:

   (Note that Let it go is wisdom from AA and "Twelve Step" groups.  For 

the promises of various old saints who would agree with this wisdom see a 

previous post.[8])  Also note Julian of Norwich's famous promise quoted here. [9])

***

“Angel Inside? (reflection/meditation before prayer)”

From my journal (same theme as above):

***

“Join Them! (meditation upon Mt. 6:26-34)”

***

“What More Can We Ask? (a Prayer)”

     (With reflection upon Jesus' words to Martha in Lk. 10:42, ASV; and Ps. 23;

1 Kings 19:12; Mt. 28:20.) 

***

And finally, in celebration of the season we are about to enter:

“Magic Eye--Still Autumn Eve”

      “All the way to heaven is heaven.” - St. Catherine of Siena

(With reflection upon Mt. 18:3; Isa. 11:6.)

* * *

We close with a prayer: "Tender Shepherd of my soul,

make yourself and your ways known to me in this . . .

time of prayer and reflections." -- Rueben Job [10]

* * *

(See additional blog posts after the “Notes”—Newer/Older Posts.)

……………………………..

Notes:

1. The ‘Shepherd of Love’--An Enduring Image of God's Tender Care”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/01/.

2.  Jaroslav Pelikan, “Writing as a Means of Grace,” in William Zinsser, ed., Spiritual Quests
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988), p. 90.

3. See “The ‘Divine Romance,’ God’s Suffering, and God’s ‘Pathos’ (or ‘Wrath’?)”;
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/04/.

4. Quoted in Elizabeth O’Connor, Our Many Selves (New York: Harper & Row, 1971),
pp. 180-1 (from Louis Evely, Suffering).
5. Meditations, prayers/poetry/proverbs by Lorraine B. Eshleman.  

6. For terms in line 1: see Note 1 above.  Line 2 & 5: see 1 Pet. 2:25, GNT, CEB;

Jn. 14:26, CEB; and “Good Friday and Easter—In God’s Embrace”;

http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2016_03_01_archive.html.  
Line 3: see Charles Wesley’s “Jesus Lover of my Soul.”  Line 4: see Note 7 below.

7. Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue, trans. Suzanne Noffke, O.P. (New York:

Paulist Press, 1980), pp. 325, 364 (Chap. 153, 167).  Also see: “The ‘Divine

Romance,’ the ‘Bride Price,’ and the Cross”;

https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-divine-romance-bride-price-and-cross.html

8. For promises of various old saints see https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/missing-sacred-tenderness-and-missing.html

9. Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. Grace Warrack (London:

Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1901, 1949), pp. 159, 64-65, 170 (Chap. 63, 32, 68). 

10. Rueben P. Job, When You Pray: Daily Practices for Prayerful Living, ed. 

Pamela C. Hawkins (Nashville: Abingdon, 2018) p. 17.