I love this scripture because it contains so much, and yet is put so simply. I have to admit that for years I missed most of the meaning it contains, but I always knew it's message was bittersweet. It is part of what Mormon wrote to "the remnant of the house of Jacob" (v. 12) about his people before the Lamanites wiped out the Nephites.
I have always heard Christ likened to a shepherd, and I recognized that in that analogy I was a sheep that would do well to follow him. I knew also that my fellow human beings were cast in the role of the other sheep that chose to follow him or not. However, I didn't recognize that this analogy spoke of Unity. The need for unity is much talked of in the church, but how to be a part of a unified people I could not decipher even though I sought answers in the scriptures. Most scriptures which contain the word "unity" are speaking of the need to be unified, not how to do it or so I thought as I studied. So I said a prayer that Heavenly Father would help me to understand how to be unified with so many that were so very different from me. We all have different upbringings, different talents, different interests, different struggles. We come from many different lands and nations. There are so many lovely, and not so lovely, ways of looking at things and getting things done, how can we be united?
As the answer to my prayer came to me, I drew this in my scripture journal:
I suddenly understood that when we try to all be like each other, it is a frustrating and ultimately impossible project. We have wonderful differences in us that can and should be celebrated. We unite, not by trying to conform to each other, but by all at once striving to become as Jesus would have us be. As we look to Jesus, we become one.
I taught a lesson once that required me to illustrate this concept to younger people, so I likened my drawing to a part in Toy Story 3. When all the toys get dumped into the trash truck, all is dark except for parts of Buzz Lightyear that glow. Woody's voice can be heard trying to locate everyone and then he says: "Everyone go to Buzz." The friends all obey and are quickly re-united. In my analogy Woody was the prophet and Buzz represented Jesus. I was excited to teach what I had been taught, and yet as I wove scriptures into my lesson along with this drawing and the Toy Story analogy, I did not catch on that when the scriptures spoke of Jesus as the Good Shepherd this is what it had been teaching for thousands of years. How did I miss that by following the Good Shepherd we become united? One fold. One Shepherd.
