Herding Sheep
Updated: Nov 15, 2019

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