The animal we have seen the most of are sheep (ovejas en Espanol). We have frequently seen a couple of men on horseback (though one guy was on a dirtbike, awesome) moving large packs of sheep to one place or another.
But one time sticks out to me the most. As we were driving in the park, Cara (with her eagle-eyes) spotted a sheep crossing the road, and took a photo of it. I made the requisite joke, why did the sheep cross the road? I wasn’t trying to anthropomorphize, but as we passed, the sheep seemed frantic, worried, or upset by something. Dismissing that as my imagination, we drove along… and about two miles later we came across the hugest herd we’ve seen our entire time in S. America (on in my entire life, really). Hundreds, thousands of sheep were moving en masse along with at least 10 herding dogs and lots of men.
That’s when I realized that the one sheep we’d seen before made sense to me. I have never really understood the Biblical story of the ‘lost sheep’ (Matthew 18) before, and this vivid image got me thinking. Why would the ovejadors go back for that one sheep, when they had so many with them? That wouldn’t make sense, it would almost seem like a waste of their time, not worth the effort.
But on the contrary, Jesus isn’t like that. For whatever reason, we inevitably get distracted from our goals from time to time (e.g. my blog about the hike). We get lost, we stray. We may think one path is right for us, but we’re really deceived and blinded from the truth. At times we have tunnel-vision, and by the time we take a breath and bring our head up to look around, we are in unfamiliar, maybe dangerous terrain. We are independent, stubborn and don’t want to ask for guidance. Yet, we can’t always find the way on our own.
And Jesus says he leaves the 99 for the 1 who was lost. We may feel far from him, but could it be that at that very time, we could also be as close to him as ever? He pursues us. We are worth the effort to him. We are valued, not a waste of his time. In a new and profound way, that makes me overwhelmed with gratitude, because I know what it is to be lost. And how good it is to be found.
My husband likes to run, apparently:)
1 comment:
Hey case! We've been loving the blogs, reliving the adventure if you will. Also really appreciated your blog on grief. We sent Carlos his package today so hopefully he get's it soon. Let's chat soon friend.
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