Does the Savior Need Sheepdogs?
By Courtney Lewis
Host of Hey, Sister! Podcast
www.heysisterpodcast.org
@theheysisterpodcast
As a kid, I always loved stories about the Savior as the Good Shepherd. I grew up in Texas and while we didn’t have a farm or any sheep, we did have some property and collies, a popular breed of dog used for sheepherding. Our collies weren’t working dogs, but I remember one very distinct moment when I fell in love with the breed as a teenager.
It was a lazy summer day and my siblings and I were watching TV in our family room. I was the oldest sibling, about 13 years old at the time and was left in charge while my mom ran a quick errand. I vaguely remember hearing the back patio door open but I was engrossed in a show so I didn’t look immediately to see who just entered or exited.
About a minute later, I noticed movement outside our family room window. I peeled my eyes away from whatever re-run of Full House I was watching to see my baby sister, only 3 years old, wandering around the pool in our backyard! She was learning to swim that summer, so she might have been just fine if she’d fallen in the water. But our sweet collies were not about to let that happen on their watch. With one collie on either side of her, my baby sister Cassidy was gently steered around the pool and guided down the hill to the swing set.
I watched all of this from the family room window with my jaw dropped. While that was a natural instinct for our dogs, I had never witnessed something like that with a potentially dangerous situation mere feet away. All the while little Cassidy had no idea the collies were protecting her.
Instantly, I felt relief at my lucky break as a babysitter and I swore I would have collies in the future when I had kids.
Years later, I would see the symbolism between sheepherding dogs and my role as a ministering sister on earth.
Throughout my life, I have had six different collies as part of my family; four during childhood and two as an adult. Each dog has had a distinctly different personality to contribute to our family atmosphere; some are more social, some are more cautious in unfamiliar settings, some are incredibly in tune to others’ emotions, some are more adventurous and some are more playful with kids. I’ve watched as their temperaments change and their pace slows as they age and I’ve witnessed the tender passing over rainbow bridge with death.
I think about my collies, how their true original purpose was to herd sheep in Scotland. I think about my own life and how for years I thought I could only be happy or fulfill my life’s mission if I returned to my home state of Texas. I think about how in lieu of actual sheep, my collies have adapted to caring for humans, puppies and on one occasion kittens! I know similar to collies, if I don’t keep myself busy doing the work I came to do, I can easily become a couch potato. Sometimes, that means I have to get creative for how to do ministering and missionary work in a world that seems to lean more towards digital interactions.
When we sing “The Lord is my Shepherd” we envision ourselves as little lambs the Lord is holding in his arms or guiding with his Shepherd’s crook. That is beautiful imagery and exactly what the Lord intends for us to understand. Perhaps though, the Lord could use some sheepdogs, keeping the sheep company, gently guiding the flock and barking to scare away snakes and warn of approaching danger.
In Psalms 23:1-3 we read “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want… He leadeth me beside the still waters… He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
There are so many paths of destruction and danger, so many pools of still water that act as a shiny, reflective distraction for unsuspecting sheep. We must learn, love and frequently use the paths of righteousness so that we can be sheepherding dogs to help the Lord guide the sheep to safety, to greener pastures, and ultimately to “dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” (Psalms 23:6)
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