If someone calls you a sheep… Well, that is certainly not a compliment. The word brings to mind someone who is dumb, weak, helpless – someone who follows the herd and doesn’t think for themselves. How strange it is that we celebrate Jesus as the Good Shepherd, but have such a low opinion of sheep!
Well, I have some good news for you. It turns out that sheep are not dumb creatures without any individual spark. It turns out that scientists (perhaps with too much time on their hands) have learned that sheep can solve mazes and learn tricks, that sheep make lifelong friendships – that they will even solve a maze faster if one of their friends is waiting for them at the end of it! Not only do they have their own feelings, but they can recognize when people are feeling happy and sad. Further, they can remember up to fifty different human faces for a two-year stretch. If their sheep friends get in trouble, they will jump in and fight for them. If their sheep friends die, they get visibly sad and mourn the loss with urgent bleating. Sheep really are a little community and they do hear and recognize their shepherd’s voice.1
[1] http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170418-sheep-are-not-stupid-and-they-are-not-helpless-either & https://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/secret-lives-of-sheep.php