The Burr in the Burgh

The prophet Isaiah knew what he was talking about when he penned the words above in Isaiah 53:6. I came across a story that is a couple of weeks old by now, so maybe you've read it, but I thought it merited some further attention.

Somewhere in Turkey, while the sheep-herders were doing lunch, one of the sheep munched and grazed himself up to the edge of a ravine and then over the edge. He fell to his death. But the thing about sheep is that they are natural followers. So one after another, the sheep followed the animals before them. And this continued until 1500 sheep went off the cliff. Hundreds died. Many of the later ones survived on account of the cushiony soft bed of wool that was formed.

Sheep tend to wander, not always paying attention to where they're going, simply going after the next tuft of grass and following the herd. In what sense, then, are we like sheep? Maybe in the sense that we are governed more by our appetites than by the voice of the Shepherd or good reasoning. Maybe in the sense that we tend to define what's right or wrong by the standards of our society. And certainly in the sense that we will plummet to our destruction, by our own fault... without the intervention of a Good Shepherd, that is.