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Jesus portrays shepherds as protectors and guides for the sheep. Likely they served as metaphors of God’s protective and guiding nature. I wonder if there is more here. Perhaps the shepherd has a role to play in our faith. We don’t see many shepherds in most western towns and cities. When I think of shepherds, I think of individuals who knew and protected their sheep. They were very interested in their welfare and wanted to see them grow into adults. It seems that the modern-day shepherds are what we call mentors today.

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This teaching on leadership must have been revolutionary to the first listeners to this teaching. Jesus addresses this in Mark 10:42-45, as Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” The people were used to the brutality of the Roman occupiers and the contempt of many of the Pharisees who dominated the people and loved to draw attention to themselves. Obviously, Jesus wants to make sure there are other models of leadership available. The leadership style that Jesus introduces is relational, respecting the dignity of the human person.

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Peace is not just an absence of conflict. Lasting peace needs justice. There are also several levels of peace. There is peace between countries, communities, families and ultimately our own internal peace. Most of us are not in a position to directly impact peace between countries but we can work for peace within our communities, our families and ultimately ourselves. Are we at peace within ourselves? What negatively impacts our personal peace. Guilt, fear, and trauma will undermine our peace. Notice what I left out. Anger. Anger itself does not destroy peace. What is anger? Healthy anger results when our healthy expectations that are not respected and/or are denied. Anger itself is not the issue but it is how we express our anger.