The hired hand

The hired hand

I am..identifies the good shepherd..
The good shepherd recognizes her identity
and the sheep as appearances of 
everything she experiences ..coloring
the wholeness of her life..
Appearances are not separate but
shine as the oneness she knows..
The hired hand has not yet recognized
his true identity and lives in separation
in quiet desperation..as the wolf comes..
She realizes there are many sheep
in the wide world and beyond..
These are also not separate..which
she realizes with Joy..
He will have every opportunity..24/7
to lay down his faulty assumptions of
separation..and to find the same Joy...

~~CC


John 10:11-18 New International Version (NIV)

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”