Sheep really do respond to their Shepherd’s call. But they need to be close enough to hear his voice so that they can follow him.
A God who is a good shepherd is a God who walks with His people and cares about their every joy and sorrow.
When we stay close to Christ, through prayer, through the sacraments, and through scripture, we hear His voice and we follow Him. But in this world of endless noise and distraction it is easy to get lost in the woods and ravines and fall prey to the wolves and lions that are constantly waiting for us to stray from the safety of the shepherd’s watchful eye.
This is falling prey to the temptations of the world, the temptation to use our gifts selfishly in pursuit of wealth and fame. But the gifts and talents we have been given are gifts of service.
Each of us have a vocation, directed by the gifts we have been given. We are expected to work on improving our gifts and talents, shaping them to serve our vocation. In dong that work, receiving the gifts and living out the vocation they direct us to, we find that the gift we give back to God, and to our brothers and sisters, is the gift of ourselves.
Perhaps more than any other, the artistic vocation is gift meant for others, a gift you give away. Artists act as the means by which God conveys to us His Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.
We are merely brushes in the hand of the divine artist, and we fulfill that role best, when we stay close enough to hear our master’s voice.