CMP Review 2023-11-19

When William Blake published his famous poem “The Shepherd” in 1789, it was illustrated with a painting by his own hand. He wrote of “the Shepherd’s sweet lot”:

For he hears the lambs’ innocent call,
And he hears the ewes’ tender reply;
He is watchful while they are in peace,
For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.

Blake capitalized the word Shepherd, pointing to Jesus the Good Shepherd. The lambs know when their Shepherd is nigh, which even more specifically evokes John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

The passage in John recounts Christ’s continued controversy with the religious leaders. “You you do not believe,” said Jesus, “because you are not of My sheep.” In Charlotte Mason’s sixth poem on the Good Shepherd, she explores the lambs who know when their Shepherd is nigh, and the men who refuse to be regarded as sheep. Read or hear her thoughtful poem here.

@artmiddlekauff