In place of the usual clergy article, this week we are pleased to welcome a guest writer:

Pip the border collie.

Happy New Year, St John’s! I bet you weren’t expecting the main article in the New Year edition of the newsletter to be written by a dog.  Well, we border collies are very intelligent, you know.  Duncan is on vacation this week, and Deonna is busy running the parish, so they asked me to stand in for them.  So, here I am.

I met Duncan a couple of years ago at the Westminster Dog Show in New York.  I was taking part in the Obedience Championship and he and Gelind were admiring my outstanding performance.  We’ve kept in touch ever since.

Before I begin there’s something I must tell you: I only spend a few days a year competing in obedience championships.  For the rest of the time I am working.  I am a useful dog, and my master wouldn’t be able to do his job without me.  I live and work on his farm, herding sheep.

Duncan tells me that I must write something inspiring. No problem. Any dog who works in the sheep business, knows a thing or two about the Good Shepherd. So here are a few things I have learned about being a good sheepdog and an Obedience Champion.

Lesson 1: Focus. There’s no way those sheep are going into that pen if I’m thinking about what’s for dinner or regretting the mistake I made yesterday. All you have is now.  Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never arrive.  Focus. Live in the present. Find the Good Shepherd in what you’re doing. Spend every ounce of energy in the moment. Some people call it mindfulness, but Christians have called it ‘prayer’ for centuries. It’s the only way to win the Obedience Championship and the only way we can live for the Good Shepherd joyfully. Regrets about the past and worries about the future are a waste of time and won’t get the sheep in the pen.

Lesson 2: The Good Shepherd loves you – live like it. Now, I’d be a very silly dog if I worried about where my next meal was coming from. I know it’s going to be there, in my bowl, just like always. The Good Shepherd has never let me down (even when I chewed up that wellington boot when I was a puppy) and he won’t start now.

Lesson 3: Obey. My master and I work as a team. My master does his job, and I do mine. He’s taller than me so he can see things better. That means I need to listen for his whistles – one means go left, one means go right, another means lie down. I know that he loves me, and if I do what he asks then we’ll get those sheep penned in no time.

Lesson 4: Enjoy your life! I love to run. In fact, working for the Good Shepherd is the happiest thing I know. I’d rather do this than be a serious police dog or a sniffer dog.

Lesson 5: It’s all going to be OK. One day I’ll be too old to herd sheep. But then I know I can live a quiet life with my humans, happily growing old together. I will always be useful to the Good Shepherd. I will always be a good companion and loving friend, even when I’m too old to run around outside.

So, my friends. It has been nice to write to you. Your Duncan says you are a well-behaved herd of sheep, so make sure you stay that way. I know where you live. Don’t forget to stay close to the Good Shepherd.

Love

Pip