I See Ewe

A funny thing happened on the way to the south beach of Iona.

Until this point, every sheep, cow, horse, chicken, dog, cat and "every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth," pretty much shied away from me. There were several times when I would be hiking through their pasture and these four-leggeds would run away very frightened. The very healthy, happy cows in southern France would simply look at me, continue chewing their cud and disdainfully look the other way with a distant "don't bother me" look.

Until this point. I walked into the field that hung on the edge of the island. There were hundreds of happy sheep milling about, baa'ing their way through the afternoon and munching on the low-cut grasses on the knoll. I noticed several tufts of "hair" (okay, wool) about on the ground and saw that about half the sheep had been recently been sheared.

I looked at this one sheep about three paces in front of me on the path and suddenly she looked right back at me. No kidding. We locked eyes. She continued walking towards me keeping the stare. I said outloud, "is there something I can do for you today, missie?" and without speaking a word, she proceeded to rub her face, neck, ears and nose on my knee/thigh. rub rub rub without any fear, just kind of mumbling how good that felt. She nearly pushed me over.

Okay, it was a little intimate, but funny, too. When I 'felt' a pause, she looked up and walked on her way. So did I. Even now, if I close my eyes I can still smell her scent and feel the weight of her body nearly pushing me over!

I wondered if that's what it's like for God. God locks eyes. She rubs and rubs, loving our bodily selves and finding some wonderment is what our bodies feel like. It's very, um, incarnational! And still now, I can feel God's presence, God's weight, nearly pushing me over.

Or, perhaps I am seeking God and now I feel that I have locked eyes, I want to feel God's presence all over me. I want to rub and rub and feel what God feels like. Scratch me behind my ears!

How do ewe see God, in this moment?