…most of us think of sheep as slobbering, untidy, dumb animals who exist only to be shaved or slaughtered.

Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered last Tuesday that someone I know actually grew up on a sheep farm in the Midwest and that according to him sheep are not dumb at all.  It is the cattle ranchers who are responsible for spreading that ugly rumor, and all because sheep do not behave like cows.  According to my friend, cows are herded from the rear by hooting cowboys with cracking whips, but that will not work with sheep at all.  Stand behind them making loud noises and all they will do is run around behind you, because they prefer to be led.  You push cows, my friend said, but you lead sheep, and they will not go anywhere that someone else does not go first - namely, their shepherd - who goes ahead of them to show them that everything is all right.

The Preaching Life (Cowley Publications: Cambridge, Mass, 1993) pages 140-141.

If you aren’t reading Barbara Brown Taylor, you really should be.  She combines masterful storytelling, critical reading of scripture, and a genuine pastoral warmth in a way I aspire to.