Pastoring
Discussion Questions
- Read Psalm 23, perhaps aloud to yourself; you can find the psalm here. Then read the devotional below, “Pastoring,” and use these discussion questions for further reflection.
- Do you—or does your family—have a story of someone who made it possible for others’ surviving to become thriving?
- How does your faith community or congregation support people whose lives are at risk?
- Reread Psalm 23 one more time, and consider all the shepherding actions that the psalmist attributes to God. Do you recognize any of these holy interventions in your own life?
Devotional
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil. Your rod and your staff—they comfort me. – Psalm 23:4 (NRSV)
My husband’s great-grandfather Pedro was drafted by his Spanish government into a war of choice in Morocco to protect colonial theft. He went AWOL, escaping north in a trunk full of weapons, of all things.
When he made it to the border with France, the forbidding Pyrenees stopped him. A shepherd led him over the mountains by night. From there, he sent a letter to the priest back in his village, who for years quietly communicated to his mother his whereabouts so she wouldn’t worry. Pedro didn’t want to risk getting her in trouble with the authorities by writing to her directly.
His journey brought him first to working the docks in Le Havre, then the fields in Cuba, and finally to the Central Valley of California. By working three jobs, he, his bride and his brother steadily gained land and a degree of prosperity. During the Spanish Civil War and the decades of hunger and want under fascist rule that followed, they sent money, clothes and food back home to his parents and siblings. Then to their children. Then to their children’s children.
Abuelito Pedro couldn’t set foot on Spanish soil for nearly 35 years after his great escape. But his commitment to his people back home never flagged.
Many of those descendants eventually prospered themselves. We know because they welcomed us as honored guests when we visited recently. Grateful for those decades of largesse, they told us this story that we’d never heard in its entirety.
Generations of survival gave way to thriving, thanks to a shepherd who led Pedro to safety and a priest who kept him in touch with home.
Prayer
God make me a priest, fearless in risking my skin to make a way for others. God make me a shepherd, moving your sheep through a dark and frightening way because I’ve already walked it and know it. Amen.
About the AuthorMolly Baskette is a UCC minister, psychedelic facilitator and author of books about church renewal, parenting, post-traumatic joy and more. Learn more at mollybaskette.com.