I love church signs. They’re full of entertaining parables, made-up proverbs, and easily misconstrued phrases.
One of my favorites, on a church sign in the Detroit area during the winter holidays, expressed this wish:
“May the Earth fall to its knees
In a whisper of peace”
Just imagining the logistics of that one has brightened my spirits when suffering through dark moments like long grocery-store lines.
I mention this on a blog about wildlife, however, because early this fall I came across the following sign announcing an upcoming sermon:
Now, this obviously highlights the integral nature of sheep to religion, but—just how do we read that?
On the one hand, there’s the rather snarky, “I have other sheep also, Gerald.”
On the other, there’s the more solely descriptive, “I have other sheep, also Gerald.”
The latter being more appropriate for a biblical verse like, “Rejoice with me; for I have found my [Gerald] which was lost.”
That’s the great thing about religion, isn’t it? It’s all about interpretation.
{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}
1 comment:
"If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray." (Matthew 18:12-13) "And doth not the ninety and nine, when the shepherd not looketh, taketh and beateth that one sheep to a pulp?" (Good Ol' Ant 17:5)
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