Fishing

My son loves fishing. The picture to the right is a picture of some of the salmon he caught last summer in Alaska. Recently he caught 31 land locked salmon in one trip in Maine. Fishing is a good analogy for life. We practice our skills in many different forms. Because we are relational at our core we fish in a sense for people all the time. We desire relationships. Some might be friendships, some romance or deep life long love, some spiritual or related to our work, but unless we are very unusual, we need relationships. It is interesting that our Lord calls us to be fishers of people as well. Some things are true in all fishing. 1) You want to fish where fish are known to hang out. Fishing in the Dead Sea or the Great Salt Lake would not be very productive. 2) You need to have the right equipment. Fishermen use hooks and poles and line and reels. It would not be wise to fish for giant tuna with freshwater spinning reels and poles, or trying to catch a trout with a fish hook with no barb. 3) Fishing doesn't work without the right bait. At times fishermen need the exact flies that resemble the bugs that are hatching at that moment. So it is with our fishing for people. It doesn't matter if it is for friendship, for love or for the Lord, we are already fishing. We need to spend time in the places where we will find the kind of fish we want to catch. We need to realize that God has made us with all the right stuff. We are perfectly and wonderfully made. Like the fishing pole and the line we are the perfect design for the job. Can we have confidence in who we are. Can we see that we will find the right relationships if we accept we are what God planned us to be. We also need to use the bait, the personality and talents God gave us.

This afternoon I was part of a great fishing expedition. I watched a man ask three workers in a restaurant,  "How can I pray for you today?". The results were amazing. They not only had things to submit to prayer but welcomed the request and the faith dialogue that followed including an invitation to join a faith community. Confidence in all that God created him to be allowed this dynamic fishing for people to happen. I learned to be much clearer about my identity in all my relationships, but also as I fish for my Lord's great catch.