One little lamb is just lying there, looking relaxed and pleasant. She doesn’t appear to be anxious about where to graze next or following the flock somewhere or anything else. She’s resting.
I used to think sleeping was a waste of time. It took quite a few years for me to realize that life is supposed to have rhythm, and if I disregard any of its aspects too greatly, I will pay in almost every other area. “He makes me lie down in green pastures,” the Psalmist wrote. (Psalm 23:2) That tells me that God expects me to stop my activity sometimes, and just rest.
But more may be happening with this little lamb than just resting. A sheep is among the group of animals called ruminants. Part of her stomach is a large storage area for food that she has consumed quickly, then later regurgitates, re-chews, and re-swallows in the process called cud-chewing. Rumination or cud-chewing is done mostly when the animal is resting and not actively eating. Healthy mature sheep may chew their cud for several hours each day.
Part of the rhythm of my life, I’ve learned, needs to be “ruminating”: thinking, dreaming, planning, pondering Scripture and what I have read elsewhere, processing the events of my days. The meaning of things escapes me if I only take in (graze) and never make time to think (chew the cud). So when I am quiet for several hours, I may be resting or I may be ruminating. (And you’ll never know which!)
The next little lamb has her eyes closed and little hoofs folded—well anyway, they’re together. I think she’s praying. She has a serious expression on her face, but it doesn’t look like worry. She must know that she has a Good Shepherd who is watching out for her and knows all of her concerns.
I know I’ll never learn all there is to know in the realm of prayer, but it’s something like breathing. I don’t have to know all the technicalities of my respiratory system in order to breathe satisfactorily. James Montgomery wrote in the words of a hymn, nearly two centuries ago, “Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath, the Christian’s native air.” When I’m short of breath, I get anxious, and likewise when I get anxious, I grow short of breath. Pretty much like praying! Sometimes I know I need to breathe more deeply, or I need fresher air. Sometimes prayer too takes extra attention and effort.
The third lamb is grinning and kicking up her heels. She is ready for play—a game of hide-and-seek or tag, or maybe just a run through the pasture. She is the one who has the most to teach me!
I grew up with a strong work ethic: “Finish your work first and then play.” This served me well during my years of schooling and early in my career. But as I grew older, I found myself with so much to do that when I worked first, I often never got around to doing the other things I wanted to do like reading, or needlework, or gardening, or taking a class. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to play first, but I am learning to leave some time for “kicking up my heels.” Robert Fulghum (author of All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten) had good advice for balancing life: learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. He just may have three little reminders on the top of his computer desk too.
MaryMartha
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email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
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