More on Fishing

It is amazing what the morning air and silence provokes.  As avid endurance cyclist on a long ride I was reflecting on my post about fishing this morning. I realized that the readings today are full of symbolism beyond my initial thoughts.   As a young child my father would take us out fishing and right away we were taught the difference between which hook to use, where to place the shot on the line and how to bait the hook.  For those unfamiliar with fishing, you have to use certain hooks for certain types of fish.  Regardless the fish hooks are full of barbs that can easily pierce the skin and bring out a small spot of blood. Thus the symbolism.

As we are asked to be fishers of men, we are faced with our own sin.  Do we have the courage like Isaiah and Peter to say yes? Moreover, fishing for men brings pain as we are faced with those that may hurt us with their own actions.  Blood flows sometimes in large amounts, sometimes it is a quick spurt and the pain is gone.

 On fishing trips with my father and brother I always wanted to catch the most fish.  Usually we had a competition  on who would catch the most and the largest fish.  Do we catch the big fish? Most likely not. However, if we reflect on the span of our lives there are times when we have been able to help others casting the net or line if you will, the impact of our goodness through the grace of God has filled the net. It is easy to dwell on the empty net, but remembering that it is God that ultimately guides the fish to the net, we are used as instruments,  the line, the hook, the bait, to fulfill the catch.