4. I am the Good Shepherd
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. Jn 10:11-12
If this text is to be relevant to us then we must identify what each of the different elements in this story represent within us. Our I AM shepherds all the different activities within us. It watches over our feeling, thinking, and willing always at the ready to protect them from what is wolfish within us.
If our I wasn’t available to do this work then something would have to fill in for it. This is the hireling. The hireling is our lower ego, it serves a good purpose but when it comes to the crunch it only thinks of its own comfort. We can call this part of our being our astral, particularly our lower emotions. It is the good shepherd that gives dignity to our lower emotions and instincts.
The sheep could be our innocent human inclinations that are developing within us. They are our natural feelings that will lead us onto the wrong path without the presence of the shepherd. They are the thoughts that are not complete, when we don’t think things through thoroughly enough and need higher guidance. They are also the will to eat what appears to be greener pasture on the other side of the fence.
The wolf is all that distracts our efforts to become more consciously aware of who we really are as human beings. The wolf is always there, watching and waiting for us to make the wrong decision, or no decision. We could say that the wolf is the devil, which put very simply it is. We haven’t talked about the devils in this blog yet and it is a big subject. Let’s call the devil an opposing force that really seeks to bring the best out in us. The devil is like that force without which a kite could not fly high in the sky.
If we are to reach our potential we need the interplay of all these elements within us. Furthermore, we need to be aware of how they are interplaying. Our development depends on our becoming consciously aware and we can only do this through the shepherd, through our I AM.
These posts are a quick view of the I AM sayings, the ebook is always free, or you can buy a paperback copy from Amazon
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Hi KristinaThank you for your enlightening thoughts. I must admit your comment “Let’s call the devil an opposing force that really seeks to bring the best out in us,” is intriguing.If the devil is really seeking to bring out the best in us, then his “love” for us must be great. He chooses appear to us as all that is, evil, negative, and limiting in order to help us. If it is so, this is a truly liberating concept, and explain Christ’ saying “Resist not evil”Joanne
Lovely comment Joanne. Apart from Rudolf Steiner’s lectures about evil there is a wonderful book which I highly recommend to all those who seek a deeper understanding of human nature, called Necessary Evil by Hans-Werner Schroeder and you can purchase a copy from http://www.abebooks.com In particular the story of members of the spiritual hierarchy sacrificing their own evolution to stay back and provide the resistance the we need to progress.
Please excuse me.I have so much to learn. I am new to all of this. I am crying, tears of joy. It seems to me no matter where we turn, we are surrounded by Love. Love takes on any possible and necessary form, travels down any avenue, be it through kindness and gentleness to all out hate to help us.Thank you very much.