Herding Sheep

In the novel, “The Solace of Leaving Early” by Haven Kimmel (which I highly

recommend!) there is a preacher who ruminates about his sermons. He tells of

seeing a nature program on the habit of herding dogs. Apparently there are two

types of herders; one gathers the sheep in by running at the sheep, barking at them

and nipping at their heels. The other pretends to be a sheep.

Which kind of God do you believe in?

Honest to God

I pray (to)

Our Father who art not in heaven*,

because heaven’s just too far away.

I need a god who has dirt

under his fingernails, mud

between his toes, a tear-

stained face. A god

whose eyesight Is failing,

who has insomnia

and an aching back.

A god who has lost a job,

lost a home, lost a child.

A god who has lost himself

at times. Heaven is no place

for a god. We need a god

who stands in our shoes,

who knows what it means

to bungle along, to fail,

to fear, to err. This god

I could pray to.

~ Penny Hackett-Evans

*First line taken from a line by Anna Karmienska