Simply Fishin’
“Mr. db my daddy said to tell you…
…thank you.”
And so began the best fishing lesson of my life, and it came from a 6 year old young lady in Oklahoma.
I was sitting on the back of my truck, saw her coming my way, also saw her get a gentle push from whom I assumed was Momma & Daddy.
“Why, thank me for what…”
“Us…” and then she looked back at her family and turned to me smiling, “…my brother lost his fishing pole in a tornado, you and a bunch of people came to town and gave him a new one.”
“Cool, does he share it with you…”
“Nope.”
“Oh, um…” and I start looking around for a spare fishing rod and reel for the child, as if I just happened to have one in my wallet or something.
“You gave all of us one, my brother, me and them…” to which she turned around and pointed to the her family.
“…and now we all fish together, even me and my brother together,” said with sisterly sort of disgust.
NOT the young girl and her brother, but it worked here so what the heck…
What if long ago we got a message…but missed it…
“Look at where Jesus went to pick people. He didn’t go to the colleges; he got guys off the fishing docks.”
It is simply…
…cork…
…and yet I bet that if you closed your eyes right now and thought back you could still feel the cork from your first, from your favorite, fishing rod.
I remember the first time my Grandfather, Clay, handed me his fishing rod, I was really young but I remember the reverence with which he handed it to me, I remember how it was nicked up some, dirty some, possibly smelled like cigars or “Genny” beer, but let me be clear, even at that young age he was making a hand-off to me of a gift that the two of would share for as long as he lived, even if he did most of the fishin’ and cigar smoking.
It is simply…
…string…
…or line I mean.
Again, close your eyes, think back, the line is sitting gently on your finger, one end of it you can see and feel, the other end is a mystery.
Through this tiny bit of line you can sense the miracle of nature whether you catch anything or not, you are in fact attached to the planet in the most sensitive manner.
You wait, it is a moment, maybe the only moment in your life, when you truly as a living organism can sense and feel the living organism we live within.
And all you are doing is hold cork, and line and yet for a few seconds you realize how all things on earth are connected, we don’t live on Earth we live in it.
“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. ”
It is simply…
…guide…
…and maybe we should use it as such.
Use it as a guide to take not only “a child fishing” but also a neighbor, a friend, family, strangers, enemies too.
Use it as a guide to take someone not like yourself, someone you may have a bias to, someone who may have a bias of you.
Use it as a guide, the cork, the line, the whole rod contraption to get to know each other better and to do so within the same planet we all live on.
I believe if we put down the weapons and pick up a fishing rod with a strangers, maybe, just maybe we’d stop killing each other.
Jesus Christ, be he the son of God or not, be there a God or not, laid out the directions for peace, for harmony, for love and respect, and he did so with fishermen, and a woman named, Magdalene by his side.
Drop the centuries old Machismo crap, it isn’t working, it’s a zero sum game, and take someone, ANYONE fishing.
Feel the cork in your hands.
Feel the line through your fingers.
Be the guide, to peace.
Two centuries ago were were shown the way, through a group of anglers.
It’s time to go back to the shore, and do it again.
“Put your sword back in it’s place”
May we some day figure out how to live together in peace.
db