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Running with the Herd

by Randal Agostini
3/19/2019 / Christian Living

There is a lot to be said about running with the herd, where comfort is derived from not having to think. One simply has to keep up to fit in, while leaving it up to someone else to plan the course. Clearly the viability of the herd depends upon the qualities of the Leader. There is a parable of a lost sheep that wanders off from the herd of one hundred. This sheep is a distinct minority, one percent, one individual, the smallest whole denominator. But the shepherd considers this one sheep so valuable that he will leave the entire herd to look for it and rejoice when it is found. If in the eyes of the shepherd one individual is so valuable then it is reasonable to assume that each member of the herd has that same value. That great value must be for a great purpose.

These days we are conditioned to believe in the majority, which is given power to rule over all, on the premise that it is for the greater good. But suppose the majority are wrong, that they are being led towards a cliff and catastrophe. How could that risk be avoided? One way might be to encourage each member to think and allow each voice to be heard, complementing one another in a solution. Another is to look at history to find where we have been down the same road before and to see how the situation was resolved. Yet another way is to ensure that the herd is under the care of a leader who could be trusted to protect everyone from danger as well as lead all to a brighter future.

The first method has been tried and shows that over time the majority grow lazy and revert to a non thinking herd mentality. Stanley Milgram, a prominent social psychologist of the twentieth century was both acclaimed and criticized for his experiments, which showed amongst other behaviors that humans will predominantly follow instructions, even when their acts are wrong and personally disagreeable.

The second method seems simple and logical but proves to be more elusive for humans. Experiments performed on animals demonstrate their ability to learn and many show a remarkable propensity to remember. Those are then able to pass on the learned behavior to other members of their species to be reused over and over again. Even living organisms without a brain are somehow able to cultivate a memory and change their behavior accordingly. Humans of course have this ability, but with a peculiar difference, for we often choose to ignore historical lessons, in favor of exercising free will. Humans seem to be pre programmed to default to this seemingly counter productive behavior as though we are destined or pre disposed to keep on developing new behavior patterns.

Why is it that we are made so contrary? This behavior could not be an aberration, for every created thing has to have a reason. Could it be that since we keep messing up, that we are destined to start over again and again to provide us an opportunity - to get it right? Did our Creator actually design into us a default mechanism where we will eventually realize how to achieve the desired outcome - His desired outcome.

The third method is to find the proper leader and by now we should have realized that he has been there from the very beginning. Who should we trust to lead us other than the one who made us, the one who knows us better than we know ourselves, the one who has already died for us, the one who has shown us The Way.

There are two explicit instructions that we received directly from Jesus - To Love God and to Love our neighbor, so it must be within those two commandments that we find the answers to our being and our purpose.

Loving God requires total trust, an absolute dependency to put Him first: Matthew 12:46-50. Jesus astounds his followers by stating that God comes before any and everyone else. To put God first we become selfless, we put aside our self, become His children and allow the spirit of God to dwell in us, direct us and speak for us.

If we compare our selfish personality to our spiritual personality we can visualize the comparative potential. Our selfish persona is only capable of achievement as a result of or own physical and intellectual investments. In contrast, our spiritual personality is limitless - walk on water - move mountains.

The next commandment instructs us how we must conduct our lives. It is impossible for true Love to be selfish, it can only give of itself to others. To love others as ourselves literally means that we must put the interests of others first. This makes absolute sense, for one only has to look around and see the wreckage along our selfish destructive paths. If God wants us to be selfless to succeed, then this is how he has programmed us. It must then stand to reason that we will continue to fail, continue to start over, until we satisfy Him and ourselves, and the World.

There is beauty in the symmetry of this existence, once we have the courage and determination to see it through. The proof that these are the correct pieces of the puzzle, are plainly evident. It is the giver that receives more pleasure than the receiver. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7). Love is the giving grace, the absolute presence of God. It heals and builds, comforts, transforms and creates. The more it gives, the more it has to give- it is limitless.

Our purpose therefore is to transform the herd through transforming ourselves, one person at a time. To be in harmony with God’s plan, to individually excel with his gifts, so that we may be complimentary to all - for the benefit for all. Our accomplishment and the value of our salvation depends upon our success. Resistance is futile, for God has built failure into our design so that we must continuously start over until we include Him, until what we do is for others. Our own instincts will have us believe that this is a design flaw, but in truth and in love it is the manifestation of his phrase: It is our built in seventy times seven - until we get it right.

Randal is a retired Aviator and Real Estate Executive that lives with his bride, close to their children and grandchildren, in sunny Florida. He is an active Parish Volunteer and Minister to the Sick. Randal is an author: "Caribbean Flite Guide," and "A Day in the Life of a Pilot,"

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