It has been said that a mechanic is only as good as his tools. It’s a good bet that the same can be said about a shepherd. However, not too many in our congregation, unless you are reading this in New Zealand, can list “shepherd” under occupation on a census form.

At our daily work each of us are shepherds. We are  in charge of the quality and quantity of work that we do. No one can make us be less than we are.

I remember how badly it stung. The kids in the neighborhood were choosing up sides for a pickup game of touch football, and I was odd man out. Rejected.

Some people are born with the knack of putting names and faces together and never forgetting that connection. That is a real blessing to have in life.

Business lunches are not what they used to be, and even power breakfasts are waning, but meeting face-to-face and sharing a meal with someone with whom you’re interested in doing business is still a good idea.

When my kids were little, if they fell down and hurt themselves, they would usually run to my wife or me to show us their “boo-boo.” And we would swoop them up in hugs and kisses and tend to their bruised egos as well as their skinned knees.

Political campaigns often boil down to a few short sound bites, carefully edited and produced at tremendous cost by professionals who specialize in such a product. After a debate, a candidate’s professional staff works the room of reporters putting a positive spin on what their candidate said and how the debate was handled.

It was a highly unorthodox ritual to play out in the office. He asked his staff to stand in a circle around him. He then moved from one person to the next, called them by name, and said, “I grant you the authority to do your best work.”

If you want your children and grandchildren to grow up generous, let them watch you be generous. In the first reading this weekend we hear how the first Christians shared all they had, with the ultimate result that “there was no needy person among them.”

So here it is: Easter. Why should we be thinking about what has perhaps been the most popular movie ever of the season—the Christmas season, that is—It’s a Wonderful Life?