The picture is a shepherd who sets the pace of the whole flock by its slowest member. He does not drive the ewes heavy with young; he shortens his stride, gathers the lambs into his arms, and carries the tired ones against his chest. The rod is for the wolves, not for the flock. He is not impatient with the pace; he chose it. The flock moves at the speed of its mothers.

Tending means feeding, guarding, knowing each one by name. The lambs cannot keep up, so he lifts them. The mothers cannot run, so he leads them gently. The same shepherd who carries the lamb also slows for the one carrying a lamb. Here is my confession: I have read this verse as a promise for my children, but I have refused it for myself. I have treated my exhaustion as a failure of faith rather than the ordinary weight of being 'with young.'

This gentleness is not soft sentiment. The shepherd who gathers lambs is the Lamb who was gathered by death on the cross and raised again. He knows the weight of carrying what he loves. Because he rose, his arm does not tire; because he died, his gentleness is not naive. He leads us now with the patience of the resurrection.