Article November 29, 1993 Issue

Second Thought

Looking again at news and commentary

by the Right Reverend Desmond Tutu

Hope and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches

"... God is like the good shepherd who goes out looking for the lost sheep. We are misled by the religious pictures which depict Jesus as the good shepherd carrying a cuddly white lamb on His shoulder. A lamb will hardly stray from its mother. It is the troublesome, obstreperous sheep which is likely to go astray, going through the fence, having its wool torn and probably ending up in a ditch of dirty water. It is this dirty, smelling, riotous creature which the Good Shepherd goes after, leaving the good, well-behaved ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness, and when He finds it, why, He carries it on His shoulder and calls His friends to celebrate with Him."

This book was compiled by Mothobi Mutloatse and edited by John Webster, copyright © 1983, published in U.S.A. by William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI; in Great Britain by Fount Paperbacks, London; and in South Africa by Skotaville Publishers, Johannesburg.

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