Mockingbird Fathers

Traci Hubbard            June 21^st, 2026

Happy Father’s Day!

Alligators can live up to one hundred years which is why there is a high chance they will see you later. This morning, I need a father who can help me understand how “Rub a dub dub three men in a tub became a nursery rhyme. And how a Pocket Full of Posies” which is the ashes rising from the gas trains in concentration camps, became a children’s game. And after we leave the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, where most of the men have names we cannot pronounce, we turn the page to the Christian scriptures, and the first four books are written by guys named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John...Canadian and American names...what happened? Did some scribes accept a bribe?

There is something wonderfully humbling about Jesus calling us sheep. Not eagles. Not lions. Not even golden retrievers. Sheep.

A sheep's greatest talent is not independence. It is not strategic planning. It is not posting inspirational quotes. A sheep's greatest strength is recognizing the voice of its shepherd. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Notice the order. They hear. They are known. Then they follow. We often reverse it. We think, “If I follow perfectly, then the Spirit will know me.” But Jesus says the opposite. “I know them.” The relationship comes first. The following grows out of being known and loved.

I do not want to follow the ways of my birth father.  I had a wonderful stepfather, Ted C. Peters, Jr., “Da” and I continue to follow many of his ways. Before I began my human journey, if I could have picked who I wanted as my father, I would have chosen someone who had the wisdom and heart like Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

One of Atticus's most famous lessons to his children is that you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view…until you climb into their skin and walk around in it. That is wisdom worth carrying. The world teaches us to talk louder. Jesus teaches us to listen deeper. The world says, “Be a social media influencer…make your voice heard.” Jesus says, “Hear My voice.” The world says, “Win the argument.” Jesus says, “Know the person.” The world says, “React.” Jesus says, “Listen.” And folks, we know that listening is much harder than talking.

Some people do not listen to understand, they listen to reload their passive aggressive intentions. They are participating in a conversation. They are the waiting room in their minds preparing their next speech. But the sheep, the followers of Christ learn a different way. They learn to quiet the noise in their minds long enough to hear the Shepherd.

There is a scene in “To Kill a Mockingbird” where Atticus is trying to teach his children integrity and courage. Imagine him sitting on the porch with his son Jem after a difficult day. Jem is frustrated. The world seems unfair. People are acting badly and nothing makes sense. Atticus might say something like, “Son, you can't control every voice in town. But you can decide which voice you'll follow.” That's a lesson every human needs to listen to, learn, and put into practice.

Every day a thousand voices compete for our attention. Fear says, “Protect yourself.” Pride says, “Promote yourself.” Anger says, “Defend yourself.” Envy says, “Compare yourself.” But the Shepherd says, “Trust Me. Love your neighbor. Be aware and question if what you are hearing and believing from others is true. Speak the truth in love. Forgive. And follow me…. follow my life-giving ways.” The challenge of spiritual growth and transformation is not that the Spirit’s voice is absent. The challenge is that the crowd, or maybe just one unwell individual is loud.

A farmer was once asked if sheep are intelligent. He replied, “Well, they spend most of their lives trying to find creative ways to get lost.” OHHHH that sounds familiar. We lose ourselves in worry. We wander into resentment. We drift into distractions. Then we wonder why life feels confusing, or why we feel disconnected from ourselves, others, and the Sacred. Meanwhile, the Shepherd is saying, “I've been calling your name the entire time.” The good news of John 10:27 is not that the sheep never wander. The good news is that the Shepherd never stops speaking through presence, words, and actions. Perhaps the most comforting phrase in the verse is not “they follow me.” For myself, the most comforting phrase in the verse is, “I know them.” The Sacred, the Spirit, does not know us as a crowd. LOVE knows us personally. LOVE knows the burdens we never mention. LOVE knows the prayers we have almost given up praying. LOVE knows the grief behind our smile and the hope beneath our fear. The Shepherd's voice is not the voice of a stranger shouting commands. The voice of the Spirit is the heart of LOVE, the voice of One who knows us by name.

Atticus taught his children to listen carefully, to understand others, and to walk through life with integrity. Those are valuable lessons. But Jesus offers something even greater. He is not merely a wise teacher pointing toward the path. He is the Shepherd in the Spirit walking with us.

I played softball for 13 years and was picked to be on the State Allstar Team…a Team full of players who we deemed foes. Each player was picked by all the teams’ coaches to become an All-Star Team and play states...whites, blacks, straight, gay, rich, poor, high performing academics, and one who had a learning disability and had trouble writing a complete sentence. It took 3 practices for us to become a team of players instead of a team of differences.

The pitcher of my rival team became my catcher...her name was Cindy...we developed signals and signs...and at the top of the 9^th inning of the third and last tournament game...the bases were loaded and the clean up batter was up. My arm was tired and we were tied with two outs, and we had the second half of the ninth to bat for the last time. 

Cindy called a time out and walked up to the pitcher's mound and said, “We've been here before, except I was at bat and you were pitching. Everyone knew your arm was tired. You knew it too. You turned around and looked at your team, and they held up their index fingers and said Mockingbirds one more. You looked at the runners on the bases. And then you looked up and your shoulders raised. I knew you were taking a deep breath.  Then, you turned around looked at me and did that move walk thing you do when you are about to throw a pitch and I swung and missed. That happened three times in a row. I threw my bat as your team ran to the mound and picked you up. You screamed...OUR TEAM ROCKS...We are the Texas Mockingbirds...your team’s name was the Braves. Why Mockingbirds?”

I told her, “Because when we started the season, we were the weakest team, and we had crummy attitudes about it, but we practiced triple time all year and became a unit of players who believed in each other. As we began winning, people kept mocking us, telling us to go back to where we belonged. One game when that was happening my mother stood up in the stands and yelled, “You've got this Mockingbirds...be brave...be who you are!” Her presence and belief in us, well, that moment shifted everything...we began yelling encouragement to one another louder than the mockers voices. And we flew to become champions.” 

Cindy walked back and stood behind Homebase, pulled her mask down, squatted, sent a pitch signal and yelled, “Mockingbirds Fly.”  3 pitches, 3 missed swings, they had no more times at bat. Our got up to bat and won by 4...bases were loaded and I was the clean up batter, and it was a full house...I was at facing 3 balls 2 strikes, and Cindy yelled, “Mockingbirds” again. I positioned my feet towards right field. The pitch came straight towards the strike zone. I swung and watched the ball fly over the right field fence. 

If the scripture said Mockingbirds instead of Sheep, we would be listening to learn, then repeating and living out what we have heard. Like the Holy, Atticus was a good parent who helped his children identify the voices in their heads and the world’s voices competing for their attention and their hearts.

Folks, when the world grows noisy, when confusion multiplies, and when competing voices demand our allegiance, remember the simple promise of Christ, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

May we become people who listen before speaking, trust before fearing, and follow before wandering. When it’s the bottom of the 9^th, 2 outs, and the bases are loaded and we are facing three balls and two strikes, we need to listen and believe we are loved and known, and we are never alone. This week, when we hear the Shepherd's voice, may we recognize it, not because it is the loudest voice in the world, but because it is the voice that has loved us all along, and swing for the fence! May it be so, amen.