The I AM and the Hireling
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father. John 10:11-18
It is hard to imagine the life of a shepherd today. For this story to speak to us we must try to experience the relationship between sheep and shepherd; the sense of security that comes from the shepherd and the innocence of the sheep. There is obviously something special about the sheep because they need to be tended by a human both night and day. It is a picture of goodness and purity isn’t it?
Jesus tells us that our I AM is this good shepherd, it stands like a sentinel, guiding and guarding the sheep. Another question arises: what is a shepherd without sheep? There is deep importance attached to both sides; the sheep need a shepherd and the shepherd needs the sheep.
So the living Imagination that comes from this pastoral scene is that the shepherd is our I AM, our Real Self which lives in the heavens. The sheep are all the faculties and forces within us that are budding and growing. The hireling is our little “I”, the worldly sense-of-self that is merely a reflection of our Real Self. Because the I AM can’t gain access to us until our faculties and forces are mature enough it has to call in a contractor.
Just look at this hireling. I don’t know who hired it; they clearly didn’t look at the job description. It’s got no experience; it doesn’t have any sheep of its own. It is a coward, afraid of wolves, it won’t lay down its life for the sheep and it doesn’t know its own.
If we want to know about the I AM we can reverse these things. The I AM is full of courage and boldness, it is not afraid of the wolves - the devouring forces in and around us. It will lay down its life; it willingly enters into this earth sphere. And it knows its own; there is a recognition beyond fear or favour. These are the marks of an I AM that is engaged as fully as possible in the earthly life of our being.
Our I AM is the shepherd who can keep the wolves away from the tender levels of your soul and spirit. We need this shepherd at this crucial time in the evolution of mankind. We are developing our consciousness soul level which is the catalyst for the budding of the Spirit Self which in turn causes the Life Spirit to stir. Also, at the same time we have to integrate our I AM more fully. Yet the astral thinks that because it has been around for so long it is up to the task. It tries to convince the small “I” to listen to it rather than to the great I AM.
If we do not continually and consciously use our Imagination to create a relationship with our I AM, our Real Self, our small “I” will scatter our forces and we will be vulnerable to attacks.
Our small “I” cares nothing for the sheep, those small budding forces of consciousness. The astral, which always seeks out the comfort zones, says in a loud voice: “It takes so much effort to develop consciousness, take a rest, have a snooze, have this psychic vision instead. Live in the levels of like and dislike, half-baked ideas and cliquey groups.”
The I AM sees Christ in us and Christ in every person. “I know my own and my own know me” The tentative connection we have with our I AM at this point in time means that we must continually remind ourselves of this. There is a oneness, a unity, and we are part of it. Yet when we look around the world, like Alcibiades, speaking of an aged Socrates, we may say, “A poor dwelling, but in it lives a God.”
We must try to be more and more conscious of the I AM that wants to shepherd the tender and innocent consciousness in us, and to keep it from the wolves. So whenever we feel scattered we can be sure that our small “I” has listened to our astral which has fled in the face of opposition.
A note on lambs/sheep
I grew up on a sheep farm so I have a little practical experience in this area -
Anyway - one of the things very striking about lambs is the extreme tenderness and fragility of their skin - that's why one has to be EXTREMELY careful that the lambing pens (where the lambs are put after they are born) do not have any sharp corners or edges - even the slightest sharp surface will literally tear an opening in their tender skin...And this makes it that much more susceptible to wolve's (or dog's) teeth. I have seen sheep with literally their guts hanging out of them after an attack by dogs...Of course the dogs didn't come around again (hard to do that after you get shot dead)...
Sheep are also extremely easy to scare. They are like the living embodiment of the archetypal 'scardicat'. Opening the door to the barn and clapping one's hands is a surefire recipe for having 30 sheep stampeding out the nearest exit - bouncing off the walls and generally trampling over anything that gets in the way, too, I might add.
Placing these 2 facts in conjunction with Kristina's essay above should help flesh out the picture a bit.
J
Important research
Thanks Jay. Whenever we read sacred texts we should make this depth of enquiry. The elements of a story are never randomly chosen. Steiner repeatedly said that we should take the Bible literally. Our most difficult task is to remove from our minds all the misguided interpretation that we have grown up with.
Kristina