Christians are so accustomed to viewing Jesus as the "Good Shepherd" that we overlook other metaphors for Jesus that can have a tremendous impact on how we live our daily lives. In last Sunday's Gospel from John (John 10:1-10), Jesus announces that he is the Sheepfold gate and that whoever enters him will have eternal life. This metaphor suggests two things: 1) Jesus is a type of "gateway" and 2) Jesus is also someone, and, his pattern of life, something, to be entered into. Jesus is a gateway in the sense that through his human and divine life, he opens up new and unparalleled possibilities for connection between humanity and God. When a person enters the gateway that is Christ, they essentially open themselves to allowing God and the divine presence (Holy Spirit) to come flooding into every nook, cranny, and experience of life, giving it purpose, meaning, and ultimate value. However, we don't merely enter through Jesus into this way of living, by passing through the sheepfold gate we enter into Jesus. Christ is more than a mere gateway to new life and love, Christ is new life and new love. Therefore, this metaphor of Christ as sheepfold gate suggests not just a journey but a mode of companionship in which we enter ever more deeply into the person of Christ and Christ ever so slowly, subtly, and humbly penetrates the depths of our lives and the sum total of all of our experiences to infuse them with depth of ultimate meaning and affirming love.
With Jesus as our Sheepfold Gate and Pasture of New Life and Love, we needn't be afraid to throw ourselves entirely into the project of loving life and, above all, loving others. Yet, why is this such a difficult thing to do? There are many reasons why it is hard to risk ourselves in love. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to entering into Jesus and throwing the whole of ourselves into the adventure of life and love is fear and the fear of loss. Our culture is imbued with many fear based messages: fears of terrorism, poverty, "right" or "left", crime, dying, death, etc, etc,. All of these fears basically have to do with some threat of loss. Entering the Sheepfold Gate of Jesus means letting go of our fear of loss and resolving to love life and others even as it or they slip away from us.
Karl E. Peters, in his book, "Dancing with The Sacred," gives an excellent example from his own life about what it means to enter into the Sheepfold Gate of Christ and love despite the threat of loss. He relates the story about how he and his wife of 33 years, Carol, endured the cutting short of her life by cancer: "Because we had no hope of life, we experienced a strange kind of freedom. It was the freedom of knowing that the worst was going to happen, so we could do whatever we wanted. We did all of our favorite things and more. Most important, we talked. We reviewed our life together. We enjoyed remembering the good times and we came to terms with all the trouble we had caused one another. We talked, we listened, we forgave. As life was ebbing away, love was growing. I learned to love and be loved - in ways I never thought possible. Because I knew it could not last forever, I gave myself totally to caring for her. In the end she aged twenty years in fifteen months and my love for her became like that of an adult child for an aged parent. In the end she became dependent, even for walking, and my love was like a parent for a toddling child. And even as she became more dependent physically, she remained emotionally mature - expressing love to all whom she met, and especially to me. Every night, before she went to sleep, she looked into my eyes and said, "Thank you for everything!" Her deep gratitude lovingly consoled me in the midst of our loss. I do not wish these experiences on anyone. But I know that when life goes, love can flourish. I know that love is more important than life."
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