Why Being Called a Sheep Is Not an Insult but the Highest Compliment
Following the quiet but irresistible pull of Wonder and Beauty is the essence of true art
The FASO Way newsletter — exploring how to thrive as an artist in the age of AI
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We have another post today by Eugene Terekhin, the man and the mind behind the publication Philosophy of Language.
Eugene is a regular contributing writer to The FASO Way.
This article will be locked in two days for paying members only.
Feature Article:
Why Being Called a Sheep Is Not an Insult but the Highest Compliment
When I first read in the Bible that believers are called sheep, I wasn’t impressed. It sounded degrading – to say the least. Some people explained that it’s because humans are as dumb as sheep. That I could certainly see – in myself and in others – and yet something about that explanation didn’t sit right.
If “sheep” is just a euphemism for “not very smart,” why would a good God choose to call us that? Doesn’t He see – and draw out – the best in us, especially when we stray?
After all, didn’t He give His followers many uplifting and encouraging names: the rock, sons of thunder, the one whom Jesus loved, the son of encouragement? So why would He take such a drastically different approach here?
Fast-forward many years. I came across a video explaining that the Western image of a shepherd tending sheep is very different from that of the Near East, especially in ancient times. In the West – and in Russia, where I grew up – a shepherd drives the flock from behind, with a whip.
So when I read in John 10 that the shepherd “goes before them, and the sheep follow him,” it didn’t compute. It wasn’t until someone explained the Near Eastern approach to shepherding that the pieces began to fall into place.
In John 10, the sheep follow the shepherd because they know and recognize his voice – not because they are driven from behind. Sheep have a remarkable ability to recognize and respond to specific human voices, especially when they are bonded to their shepherd.
To be called a sheep means to possess a unique capacity – a perceptiveness that responds to the divine voice. A sheep is the perfect responder to the Call: the call of Beauty, of Magnetism, of Attraction.
Martin Heidegger famously wrote in his Letter on Humanism (1947):
“The human being is not the lord of beings, but the shepherd of Being.”
True shepherding has nothing to do with driving, whipping, or forcing. It has everything to do with calling, attracting, summoning. The sheep follow not because they are compelled, but because they know the Caller – and will not follow another.
Just as the divine Shepherd never drives but calls, so the human being is not the lord of beings but the one who invokes Being.
If we know the voice of the One who calls, we come to know the power of attraction. He who lords it over beings betrays Being. But he who knows the voice of the divine Caller becomes the shepherd of Being.
Being itself is like a sheep. It waits for the right voice to invoke it. It does not respond to the voice of a stranger. It cannot be manipulated or forced into presence. It flees from those who would dominate it but opens itself – like a flower under the warm rays of the sun.
Being does not yield to force, for force is a form of weakness. It responds only to true power – the quiet but irresistible pull of Wonder and Beauty.
PS — Editors note — if you’re wondering what today’s issue has to do with art, it’s in the last line of Eugene’s piece: responding to the “quiet but irresistible pull of Wonder and Beauty” is the essence of true art.
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The pull of wonder and beauty is in the artist as well as the viewer. Loved this article.
Visual artists are straining to see better. You are encouraging us to listen as well.