She was a new mother,
parenting without any experience, and evidently fairly aware that she and her
husband might get some things wrong. Gloria Gaither says she and her husband
Bill needed a “Gentle Shepherd” to help them guide their young, in the same way
an owner cares for each sheep. Admitting that one is naïve, without all the
correct procedures and ultimate answers, was a lesson that Gloria sounds like
she probably re-learned as she and Bill dealt with each of their children. No
two kids are the same, and so the gentle, light touch of the parent as an authority
is so necessary for child-rearing, she indicates. How do you suppose Gloria and
Bill discovered this principle?
Gloria did not just
have an epiphany about parenting in a temperate, mild manner in 1974 when she
and Bill began employing the gentle shepherding of their own children. Gloria
shares that there were multiple sources that nudged them into this approach,
toward this ‘gentle’ direction. Her mother urged Gloria as a teenager in a poem
to follow the ‘Great Shepherd’ (God), some foundational advice that was rooted
in various scriptures (Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, John). She notes in the few
pages of the “Gentle Shepherd” story that parents play a balancing act with
their kids – firm control versus autonomy, admonition versus loving support. It
was the constancy of God’s words that helped the Gaithers maintain an
equilibrium, though how His precepts are applied to each new generation of children
must be carefully measured, Gloria writes. She indicates that she and Bill drew
upon the Spirit for discernment plenty of times. How else would one know how to
shape the God-given gifts of each child and mold them for a future that neither
parent could forsee? It’s a recurring theme in multi-generational families like
the Gaithers’ clan, which Gloria shares had evolved by the mid-2000s so that
the once-upon-a-time parents had grown into grandparents. Their own kids have birthed five grandkids,
and so what was passed along from Gloria’s mother -- and probably long before
her, in fact – to Gloria and Bill, and now to their own children and
grandchildren, will keep regenerating and reeducating each of their progeny,
because of its timeless source.
Gloria relates how a
trip to England with her daughter’s family reminded her once again of how sheep
and their caretakers behave. The sheep often stray, sometimes into dangerous
territory. And, the shepherds are very cautious with those under their care,
aware that the sheep are vulnerable, easily misled creatures. We, like the
sheep, may be misguided, but at least in admitting our condition, we can run to
and cling to a protector, a wise one we know is compassionately looking out for
our welfare. Am I in danger, susceptible to all sorts of peril? Sure. But, my God
is sure, too. Breathe easier in His embrace, fellow sheep.
The primary source for
the above song story is the book Something Beautiful: The Stories Behind a Half-Century
of the Songs of Bill and Gloria Gaither, Faith Words: Hachette Book Group
USA, New York, NY, 2007.
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