Sheep, Sheepdogs, Wolves, and Shepherds

    "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."  

    =John 10:11

       I recently had my memory refreshed of a clip from the movie "American Sniper" where the father of Chris Kyle is giving a lecture to his two young sons after a schoolyard brawl on the arrangement of the human social condition. He split humanity into three categories; Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves. 

    Sheep are pretty self-explanatory. They are the people who ebb and flow with the seasons and waves of society. They are completely dependent on the system and rely on stronger and better equipped people for their protection and survival. Out of an ignorance, an ineptitude, or just a general contentment they don't equip themselves to defend themselves and are easily incentivized by fear.  They are the weak and meek, both those who willingly pacify and disarm themselves and those who by handicap and disability are left with no other choice. They are easily disconcerted, and are not as focused on defense or combativeness as the sheepdogs or wolves. They don't see the need to or are reduced to a position where they can't. 

      Sheepdogs are the defenders of the weak and meek. The protectors of the sheep. They are what gives warning when danger comes and they face the aggressors and predators who may try and pick off a few stragglers and attack the herd. In the movie, the sheepdogs were allegorous to the warriors depicted in the film, protecting people from the monsters and wolves that existed and standing up for the defenseless. 

      Wolves. They are the predators. The humans who see weakness and/or weak people as undesirable, unacceptable, and uncorrectable.  They see weakness and sometimes meekness to an extent as condemnable, permanent traits of a persons very make-up or nature, and proceed to act accordingly by bullying, violating, or even killing those they deem lesser than themselves.  Wolves are humans with ingrained and unrelenting superiority complexes that reinforce the predatory thinking patterns that view weakness as a dehumanizing character flaw. To these people, the concept of strengthening weakness, healing sickness, and forgiving mistakes is quite elusive, even alien to them, because viewing these things in a more noble and more advanced way requires a level of sophistication, foresight, and maturity that human predators naturally lack. 

       Preying upon weak and meek people doesn't necessarily require a lot of intelligence, ingenuity, or deep thought. Nor does it require courage.   Strengthening, healing, and forgiving often do, though, and wolves can find such mental processes involved with these things challenging or even unachievable. 

     There are some cunning wolves out there though, and many sociopathic and psychopathic human beings often take great pleasure in preying on the weak and meek. In preying on the sheep, and they don't mind taking a few sheepdogs down with them if they can.  Wolves are vigilant and aware, like any predator, and they have a level of awareness and vigilance that the "sheep" often lack.

        Even though it wasn't mentioned in the movie, I like to include another group of humans, or group of conscious beings in general. The shepherds.   The shepherds are on a higher level than the sheepdogs and wolves. In the context of humanity, these are the good guys who are extremely advanced and extremely vigilent, always aware of dangers and always paying attention. I would even argue that some "shepherds" might not even be human at all. Maybe angels, or some other higher consciousness. Shepherds are in charge of the sheepdogs and the sheep, and more intelligent and advanced than the wolves. They are the true higher authorities, like Jesus, and they are always watching and listening to humanity's circumstances and affairs.

      As far as my relationship with these concepts?  I try not to be a sheep. I'm pretty vigilent and pay attention, and throughout the day or in the community I may occasionally notice in the crowds humans who just have the appearance of being more aware, more in the know, and more focused than the rest of the crowd. If you pay attention, you can sometimes see them. 

 I also notice an unsettling thing about people; how oblivious, inattentive, confused, and distracted many of them are. So much so, that a wolf could sneak up behind them and they wouldn't even know it half the time.  The wolves like the dumb, the weak, the confused, and the quiet. Easy targets. Less work. They prey upon fear too. It gives them a gratification. It gets them off in a sense. 

 However, bravery is not a prerequisite in being a wolf.  You don't need to be brave when you prey on the weak.