The Voice of Love is Calling Part II:
The ‘One’ Sheep, the Two Wolves… and the Two-spirit
The ‘One’ sheep was lost. Feeling ostracized, he fled from the flock, becoming more easily targeted prey. Instinctually knowing there was always a killer on the loose, the sheep was fearful. Darkness loomed. The evil wolf hunted, stalked his prey, and began tinkering with his new toy. Afraid the sheep ran, fearing death. However, the evil wolf exploited the kid’s weaknesses and continued to victimize the shunned sheep. First nipping at his wool, then scratching at the surface, reopening wounds created from the flock. The tantalizing taste of blood tempted the wolf to move to the more tender, untouched, sensitive skin. It would not be long before the evil wolf huffed, and he puffed, and he would scarf the poor sheep down. He was menacing and persistent in his pursuit. He worked to create new wounds, breaking the weakened lamb down. The sheep dodged in and out of the brush, hiding from the evil one. There was much weeping, there was gnawing at the sheep’s flesh, there was a ‘gnashing of teeth’, blood was spilled, the evil wolf was making his mark-- the mark of the beast.
The bloodied sheep recalled the ‘Good Shepherd’ often used the term ‘gnashing of teeth’ to tell tales of past wanderers, many who still suffered. The sheep now understood this to be him—he, too, was suffering. He had found the pains of injustice and inequality which were reinforced by the big-bad-wolf. The wolf who howled, ‘You are not worthy’, “You are not wanted’, ‘You are not good enough,' and ‘Nobody cares about You.’ Without any help, escape would be impossible for the heavily wounded sheep. The big-bad-wolf was too powerful.
Beat up, beat down, and beat every-which-way, an empty soullessness had settled in and taken over this marred and mangled sheep. Right as the sheep was certain life was ending and he would be consumed, for some unbeknownst reason, the evil wolf backed away from his blood-soaked prey. Somewhere, out in the distance, the sheep caught glimpse of what appeared to be a Pure Wolf. She appeared as Hope. She appeared as Love. She appeared as Power. She appeared as all things Good. She was Truth—She was Way—She was Life. She was so many things. She was undefinable. In his evilness, the battered sheep felt Her light. She, too, came as light! Her power seemed to draw the evil wolf away. Blood was shed by Him for him. The sheep wondered if he would survive.
In his forced retreat, howling almost as a hyena would, but in a much heavier hellish tone, the enemy continued taunting and ridiculing the lost sheep in his brokenness. Trying with all his might to lure that black sheep into certain death. But there She was, the Pure Wolf, Untouchable to the evil wolf—standing in his Way.
Devastated from a lengthy battle that seemed to last an eternity, the sheep were filled with indescribable hopelessness. There was a lingering thick, dense, suffocating air about, which cruelly complemented the empty void felt by the sheep. The enemy, the evil wolf, had been so masculine, so self-serving, such an overwhelming presence. He represented anger, hate, jealousy, cruelty, greed, shame, lies, false pride, arrogance, ego, envy, sorrow, regret, and all that was wrong in nature. Then, there was the Pure Wolf. Although he only had caught a glimpse of Her, at that moment, he felt Her LOVE, he saw Her Power, he now hoped in the Goodness of Her Being. She represented all things lovely and good; joy, peace, empathy, generosity, humility, kindness, serenity, hope… the sheep had felt the power from the Two-wolves.
The lost sheep didn’t quite know what to do, or where else to turn, so he began knocking on heaven’s door; he was tired, he was hurt, and he didn’t know if he could go on. How could life hurt so bad? How did he go so wrong? Unhealed wounds continued to bleed, and as he laid there feeling the closeness of death, once again he thought of life and the Energy and Love that was the Glorious Pure Wolf. Oh, how the kid wished there was an escape from the poor choices he made, from his aimlessly wandering, from wasted time, but the damage that was done. Or was it? Was it too late? He wondered. He was dying to himself. As the evilness continued to howl, somewhere off in the distance, the distressed and wounded sheep began to pass, thinking to himself, “I am done”. Begging the God he now believed might exist, to ‘take him’ from this cruel world.
In his final moments, his thoughts had shifted towards God. But, why God? For most of his life, he was taught God would consider his ‘type’ disgusting, an abomination, abhorrent, or worse-- if there is such a word. An unworthy, unwelcomed, black sheep-- the worst kind of sinner. A soulless murderer. A murderer of souls. And, on some level, he must have believed himself to be that type of disgrace. He believed those lies told to him by the world. The outcast sheep had unintentionally succumbed to darkness. And as the ousted sheep sat alone in his brokenness, he felt SO ALONE! If you have ever felt the pains of ‘alone’—YOU FEEL SO EXCRUSIATINGLY EMPTY. DAMAGED TO THE CORE OF YOUR BEING. Imagine being left to die in the loneliness of that dark. Feeling nobody was there. And, why should the world care? He was a black sheep… He was a wanderer… He was nobody… WHO CARED!?
Down to what felt like were his final breaths, the sheep wondered if maybe, just maybe, there was something more to do with Light. If ‘God is Love’, he thought, had the other sheep errantly been acting on the false belief he was not worthy? Had he, himself, errantly believed he was not worthy. Looking back, the sheep now realized he had been on a rollercoaster of darkness. He ran with the evil one. The evil one who only wanted to cause more hurt, more pain, more damage. It was never enough. He was never enough. It was true, he had selfishly spent his life wanting more, more, more. The dark wanted more, more, more. It became this roller-coaster of a give-me, give-me, give-me lifestyle. The sheep suddenly remembered the universal law of attraction, it now made sense. The universe was, in turn, saying to that sheep, give-me, give-me, give-me. A taker gets took.
Suddenly, the kid was remembering all the ways he had contributed to pains on earth. It was then, that the sheep realized, as sheeple, we are really good at shaming ourselves, wandering into that nearby pigpen, wallowing in the misery of past mistakes. As sheep, when we continue in the muck and mire the ‘sheep’ continues to get deeper and deeper… nothing deepens faster than a victim mentality... buries you in… muck!
So, at this point, The Good Shepherd, too, thought it was a good idea to grant his request and ‘take him.’ However, the sheep’s original idea of ‘take him’ was a bit disillusioned. For the Good Shepherd is not a ‘sacrificer’, but a Renewer, a Revivor, a Restorer--a Savior. He takes brokenness aside and makes Beautiful People. Yes, even, Marilyn Manson’s look-a-like ‘Beautiful People’, ALL relative, but quite possible size does not matter. Love’s goal is set, ‘That They May All Be One.’ Making sheeple out of Marilyn Manson-type people works—just gotta get a little of the pigpen off. Ask the sheep, ‘IT HAPPENS!’ "Sheep happens!"
It only took a mustard seed, you see. A glimpse of the Pure Wolf. A dash of White Light. God breathed life back into the wandering sheep. So, pay attention, and have a little bit of HBF: Hope, Belief, Faith. Fertilizer for the soul. The Good Shepherd lifted that sheep with his right hand, restoring the broken vessel. The sheep felt the Love of the Good Shepherd who single-handedly delivered him back to the fold. The Good Shepherd finds sheeple. The ‘Good Shepherd lifts people. The Good Shepherd restores people. The Good Shepherd promotes people—PROMOTES TO UNIMAGINABLE PLACES! The GOOD SHEPHERD wants you in the fold! The ‘One’ Matters! “BLACK SHEEP MATTER!”
Back in the fold, the ‘Good Shepherd’ impressed upon the, at times, ‘little sheep’, at other times, ‘big sheep’, that no matter what a ‘little sheep’ or ‘big sheep’ does, he will always be the Shepherd’s. A Love was established that day between that ‘Good Shepherd’ and that ‘Sheep’ that was UNTOUCHABLE. The Sheep was fully restored to POWER. AWAKENED.
The Good Shepherd, then, set the sheep free and told the sheep to go and spread his wings. Yes, the sheep was different, he had wings. But, now it didn’t matter what others thought about him, he could show his true colors--and wings. HE COULD SPREAD THOSE WINGS AND FLY! He could be comfortable being who he was. Anything he was. Anything he wanted. He was in the flock, a CHILD OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Today when the sheep says ‘I am a CHILD OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD’ he says it with non-sheepish conviction. He said those words with pride. KNOWING THE SHEPHERD AND WHITE WOLF WILL ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF HIM! For the ALMIGHTY SHEPHERD had spoken. Yes, the sheep became less non-sheepish that day.
Things have been BUILDING for the sheep for some time now. Have you seen it? It is transforming. The sheep UNCONDITIONALLY understood the feelings and the power of compassionate love, and was so dedicated to actionable service, and understood being a loving neighbor to ALL is really what mattered! Then the Good Shepherd/Pure Wolf did what they always do, going ABOVE AND BEYOND the call of duty. POOF! With a bit of “FAIRY DUST” (fitting they know), they transformed that ‘little sheep’ (Although, he still has some issues) into a Shepherd. Shepherd with a wolf's flare. Set to lead his own flock.
There was much work to do. The ‘One’ sheep now understands service and delivery. There are many wanderers waiting to be impressed upon. Sheep who need Unconditional Love. Sheep who need The Healer of ALL things. LOVE! The Shepherd Understood Searching for ‘the one.' The One is me! The one, is You! And, that once sheep, now Shepherd with Flare… Yeah, him, Love scooped him up out of that darkness, Love carried restored that brokenness, that wounded and bloodied sheep back, into the flock.
In the sheep’s younger years, He did not understand the difference between ‘darkness’ and ‘light’, but when he had come to experience such darkness, he knew there had to be something to Light. CONTRAST such a wonderfully made thing. From Extreme evilness to extreme Light.
Once, he was tired. Soullessness does that to a person. He, really, just wanted to go. To leave this cruel world. He came to that tomb naked and afraid. Empty. Broken by unjust judgment. Battered and weak. His flesh was draped over bone. His heart was near empty. An overwhelming evil had invaded his soul-- had infiltrated his being. He had made horrible life choices. To some, maybe, it made sense. But to most, it did not. Waking up daily, knowing you were ‘different.' A life filled with trying to be something, someone, you are not. In hopes to find somewhere you fit. To my friends at Vernal UCC and the wider UCC thank you for making me fit. The jail doors have popped open. “Roll Up”, things are Movin On. So, hang on, let’s enjoy the ride together in Christ!
To the ‘One’ who still struggles, the ‘One’ I once was…
The drug-addicted One.
The homeless One.
The mentally ill One.
The broken One.
The battered One.
The different One.
The unloveable One.
The POOR Parent One.
The abused One.
(Matthew 18:12-13)
12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.…
Come into the fold. Come find the real you. Two-spirits, wanted, Two-spirits, welcome. Anyone is welcome! We will do our best to add ‘feeling’ to the welcome! Come, Awaken your inner beauty. The Good Shepherd is calling. The White Wolf is howling. Don't forget contrast is a wonderful thing. No matter who you are, No matter where you are on life's journey, You are welcome here! Come. Come to The Master of the Universe. A He-man of sorts, A White Wolf of sorts... A King of Love, A Queen of Compassion. Something so Glorious it is UNDEFINABLE! Find ‘A New Vibe’ and tap into ‘A Soldier of Love’ that is in all of us. You are wanted! You have gifts! There is no better place for You! Become GREATER! Come help us create. YOU WERE BORN TO CREATE!
The Vine and the Branches
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
As You go out into a wonderfully magnificent world, remember, you, my family, are fearfully and wonderfully made! Two-spirited in nature. Created by the Creator… to be Creators. Go… Create Love, Create Compassion, Create Space, CREATE, CREATE! BE THE CHURCH! BE THE 'ONE' CHURCH!
Among religious institutions, we hear it said far and wide, “Be the Church!” So, how do we really “Be the Church”? We find the 1, for 99 already have a place. Stay tuned! Next week we will talk more about the idea, “Be the Church,” Shepherding, and revitalizing the church. Join me fellow sheep, fellow shepherds, as we work to ALL BE ONE! "The Voice of Love is Calling"... Y-O-U! GOD IS STILL SPEAKING!
In our Good Shepherd’s Love, In our Good Shepherd’s Name, Amen!
