There were poor kids in shabby clothing, boys with glasses, girls with freckles — and don’t forget the fatties.
In my school days, these children were considered fair game for taunting and name-calling, tactics cleverly employed out of earshot of the teachers.
The word “bullying” wasn’t trendy then, but the snide remarks, nudges and smirks formed the same syndrome, which evidently is passed down through generations.
I endured the shame of being different because I was overweight, which meant I often dreaded school.
The worst time was physical education, when children of every shape, size and ability were expected to do high jumps, hit home runs and perform gymnastics.
Not surprisingly, the uncoordinated, chubby and clumsy children were last chosen for teams, and for good reason. These rejects might be math whizzes, poets and history buffs, but we were terrible at sports.
There’s a lovely story in the Bible about the sheep that scurries away from the fold and gets lost. We’re told the devoted shepherd is willing to leave the 99 others and search for it.
We don’t know why the sheep left, but perhaps the other animals rejected it, because they detected some weakness, and started bullying it and nudging it away at feeding time.
The faithful shepherd cherishes every single sheep, so he’ll face danger to retrieve the stray, rather than shrugging and saying, “Well, there’s plenty more where that came from.”
I recently read about female sheep that sometimes reject a newborn lamb, refusing to feed it. Left on their own, these baby animals, which are called “bummer lambs,” will die of starvation and exposure.
However, there are kindly shepherds who take the rejected lamb into their home, where they bottle feed it and keep it warm. They even hold the lamb against their chest, so it can feel the comforting sensation of a heartbeat.
Once the bummer lambs are weaned and on their own, they are returned to the flock — and when the shepherd calls, these special lambs are first to recognize his familiar voice and eagerly lead the flock to him.
There are so many people who might identify with bummer lambs, including folks rejected for being overweight, underweight, unusually tall or short, physically disabled, mentally slow.
There also are social outcasts like the poor who can’t afford cars, nice clothing and homes. The teenagers who get hooked on drugs and live on the streets. Women who turn to prostitution because they don’t see other options.
In the Bible, Christ calls himself the good shepherd, who “lays down his life for his sheep.” He sacrificed himself not just for the bold and beautiful, but for the meek and the mourners, the weary and the worn-out.
Some people have an image of God as angry and distant and even cruel. These people may be survivors of bleak childhoods with little affection and affirmation from parents.
It can be hard to replace this notion of God as a tyrant with God as a loving father searching for us. But the New Testament depicts him calling every single lost sheep, and that means street people, misfits and the unwanted. He seeks the sick, the dying and the desperate, including people who have given up on him.
You see, even if we’ve turned our backs on God in anger or desperation, he never abandons us. And if we heed his call and run eagerly toward him, God will lead us to the heavenly realm, where there’s no more suffering, bullying and tears.
It’s the place where all lambs find a lasting home in the divine shepherd’s heart, even the rejects.
About the Author
