• ashirk@gmail.com
  • Kijabe, Kenya
grace
A Shepherd’s Hem

A Shepherd’s Hem

“Let my courage be like a rock, let the daily task of the shepherd seem possible to me, as he moves about and, throwing a stone to measure it, fixes the hem of his flock where it has grown ragged.” — Rilke

I seek the frayed edges

in the four corners of the earth,

in the four corners of myself.

Like a shepherd, I gather, mend, protect.

Like a sheep, I need to be gathered, mended, protected.

My heart is unreached,

therefore I whisper to hearts

Unraveled, like my own.

“Even though

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

I will not fear…”

Easy to recite to myself,

but I fear for my family;

the “flock,”

near to me and far from me,

past the edges.

Lord, give us courage as

we immigrate,

Scatter.

Give us courage

as we settle

and stay.

Hem us in.

In the journeys, and in the stillness beyond.

I pray:

Let my courage be like a rock,

let the daily task of the shepherd seem possible to me. . .

Based on a profound Rilke poem that showcases extreme beauty of the completely ordinary as only he can do.

“Let my courage be like a rock, let the daily task of the shepherd seem possible to me, as he moves about and, throwing a stone to measure it, fixes the hem of his flock where it has grown ragged.”

The metaphor of sewing a frayed edge is the theme of our company, Serge. I can’t imagine a more perfect illustration of the work we seek to do in the world — the ordinary courage needed to find the sacred amidst the mundane — than that of a shepherd-weaver.

There is great courage needed to face the every-days, to change the world by changing a diaper. To remain steadfast in old-fashioned love and hard work. Day in and day out. Come rain or shine. Mending the ragged hem of life.

Like a courageous shepherd.

Originally published on Medium.

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