{"id":48461,"date":"2013-12-17T05:05:01","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T05:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=48461"},"modified":"2017-03-02T20:57:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T20:57:25","slug":"i-hate-being-a-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2013\/12\/17\/i-hate-being-a-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"“I hate being a shepherd…”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Annunciation to the Shepherds, Taddeo Gaddi, Fresco in the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence c. 1335<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
\n\u2014 Luke 2:8<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Over at First Things, today, we meet a shepherd who hates the sheep<\/a><\/strong>; he hates their stink and their stupidity \u2014 he dreams of being a pirate, and even pays grudging respect to the wolves he must keep at bay:<\/p>\n

It is different for his son, my cousin. Joining us in the fields, he had adopted the self-important swagger of a boy set to working among the men, but a month of raw weather, of keeping predators at bay while saving the sheep from themselves\u2014for there is no stupider creature on G-d\u2019s earth than a sheep\u2014has brought a dullness to his step. A wolf can be cunning, but does not have to be; even a lupine dullard is smarter than the filthy, stinking sheep we guard and save and lead and nurse back to health, when we can.<\/p>\n

This sheep, my uncle pronounces, as he treats the wound with garlic and honey and binds it tightly, will likely live; its wound is slight. As I watch him work, my imagination and my stomach conspire against me. Our meal tonight was only lentils and bread and at the notion of a lamb roasted with garlic my gut has gone rude and noisy.<\/p>\n

This, more than anything, overwhelms whatever meager pleasures a shepherd might take in his labors: the hunger. For all that the night-sky fascinates and the breezes alive in the grassy pastures may bring delight, there remains a constant sense of hunger\u2014of an appetite never fully assuaged. This gnawing emptiness is no accident of poor planning; it is by design. To be slightly hungry is to be awake, alert. A shepherd who eats his full finds his senses dulled\u2014he becomes more likely to want a nap and that always becomes a hard sleep. If a predator comes, or a sheep gets himself lost, or trapped\u2014or has stumbled into harm\u2019s way, as they always do\u2014the shepherd will be too weighed down to react; his reflexes too slow. One cannot run well with a full belly.<\/p>\n

Still, when we bake our breads upon the fire daily, my wish is to add a few fistfuls of flour into the mix; to bake enough bread to fill in the chinks until I am finally sated. When I have tried, always my older brother has stayed my hand. \u201cWe have the rations,\u201d I argue, but he shakes his head. \u201cBe prudent and stay prepared,\u201d he says. \u201cEach day we must have bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hate being a shepherd.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I do not know the narrator\u2019s name,<\/strong> but don\u2019t miss what happens as he takes first watch in the night<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Yes, I take a rare foray into fiction. <\/p>\n

Oh, be nice. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. \u2014 Luke 2:8 Over at First Things, today, we meet a shepherd who hates the sheep; he hates their stink and their stupidity \u2014 he dreams of being a pirate, and even pays grudging respect to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1605],"tags":[4937,1606,1607],"class_list":["post-48461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-fiction","tag-catholic-fiction","tag-nativity","tag-shepherds"],"yoast_head":"\n"I hate being a shepherd..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. -- Luke 2:8 Over at First Things, today, we\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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