Driftless

Pentecost +12 – Year B

Bonus reference: reflecting on the disciples/followers having difficulty with Jesus' comments and perspectives on life in all its fullness, when I heard this quote today from David Rhodes' 2008 novel, Driftless, it seemed to sum up a good bit of the difficulties we have. In this setting the disciples are cows, not sheep, and July [book's protagonist] is Jesus.

"Something had frightened them, and July stood in the opening and searched for an explanation – a pack of dogs, perhaps. But he could see nothing, and indeed it wasn't always possible to identify the reason for a herd's agitation. Like the fear that often seizes a human society, it sometimes had no tangible cause. Given the social nature of animals, an errant yet terrifying idea could flare up in a single limbic system and spread into the surrounding neighborhood, communicated with the speed of a startled flock of birds. Before long, a climate of fear was established, perpetuated through the psyche's network of instinctual rumor."

As you can imagine this take can be applied to any number of issues within religious institutions and the public commonweal. This book comes highly recommended.