Sheep have been one of the constants of this long walk. I have no clue how many I’ve seen, but it must be thousands or even tens of thousands by this point.

Which, of course, has me thinking about the Good Shepherd and the sheep of his flock.

The New Testament records several sayings of Jesus that mention sheep and shepherds. And it usually works out that Jesus himself is the shepherd (although there are ne’er-do-well hired shepherds, too) and that believers are the sheep. Knowing that framework helps interpret the stories.

At one point, Jesus says that the sheep hear his voice. The idea there includes the point that the sheep won’t get misled by others, that if you’re a believer in the Christ you won’t wander after other shepherds but will always have an ear cocked for the voice of your true shepherd.

My walking across meadows of sheep and alongside fields of sheep and down roads with sheep in the road has all given me more to meditate on about this Good Shepherd and Sheep relationship.

Like the day on the Welsh Borders when I watched and listened as a young shepherd directed his 2 sheep dogs to move a flock through a gate from one field to the next. (Are the dogs symbols for the priests and ministers in the Church?)

Or the other farmer who told me that he’s quite sure that the sheep can pick out other individual sheep by their bleating.

Or when I think about God’s promises to listen to his sheep and answer their prayers.

We assume there are at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people praying to God at any one moment every day of the year. Have you ever listened to the voices of that many people at one time?

Here are many times fewer sheep than that all having their say together:

I couldn’t pick out any one particular voice from that chorus. But I believe that somehow our God picks out, hears, listens to, and responds to every individual person, sheep, cow, and every other creature trying to get his attention. I’ve no idea how he does that, but I have faith that he can and does.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I hear each of their voices.”