The poem “ ‘Feed My Sheep’ ” by Mary Baker Eddy (Poems, p. 14), the Discoverer of Christian Science, is based on Jesus’ instruction to his disciple Peter. Its three touching verses, set to music in the very first Christian Science Hymnal in 1892, carry a deep message for all of Jesus’ followers, assuring us of our divine Shepherd’s guiding hand through three perspectives: me, we, and them. The poem begins, “Shepherd, show me how to go,” moves to “We would enter by the door” in verse two, and ends with “Shepherd, wash them clean.”

All healing, whether of an individual, a church, or a community, starts with a shift in our own thinking. And we can look to the ideas in this poem for guidance in our participation as church members. These ideas can benefit individual church members as well as members’ mutual support for one another and their church’s response to the community’s needs. Divisions within a church membership stemming from personality or political differences require prayer and a higher, spiritual sense of fellowship. 

The “me” in this poem turns us to the Shepherd—God—in humility and receptivity. It assures us of the divine influence and shows us our individual responsibility to support and love each member and visitor to our church by first examining our own thought—listening for the Shepherd’s guidance and adjusting our thought as directed.