Gone fishing...

   Having been raised in Michigan, I am familiar with ice fishing. It is a lot more deliberate than the summertime form of the diversion. One does not spend several hours whiling away the time, maybe drinking a few beers, sitting in a shanty, with one's posterior growing numb from cold, not to mention one's face and extremities, just for the heck of it.

   Jesus said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." (Luke 5: 4-5)

   Sometimes I wonder if maybe this has been cleaned up; either by or for the church. Sure, Simon Peter respected Jesus, but maybe he thought to himself, "Hey, who's the fisherman here? I was fishing before you even knew where Lake Galilee was!" Or even, "Oh man...I've been up all night, I stink, I'm tired, I just want to go home, clean up, have something to eat and hit the sack."

   Do we ever do that? "Geez, Lord, I put in 60 hours this week; I don't want to get up at seven o'clock on my day off." Gotta love Peter; "If you say so, Lord." Simple, not necessarily easy.

   Giving his sermon, Rev. John Fritts, at one time the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brady, Texas, said fishing was a noble occupation. He went on to enumerate elements of the down side, saying it was dangerous and tiring, mentioning an episode of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs.

   Speaking of Simon Peter's partners, Rev. Fritts mentioned "the esteemed firm of Zebedee & Co." Two millennia later, the company continues to thrive. They even have a weekly company party and everybody is welcome.*

*****

    I never did finish wherever I was going with that but maybe I can address that now and together we can flesh it out. For starters, I found a place where it was necessary to add a footnote. One would hope that love is first and foremost in your heart. It matters not nearly so much that one profess allegiance to any rite or prevailing deity as it does how one treats one's fellow planet, universe, or even neighborhood, dwellers. In recent years, and more so since 2016 United States' presidential election, nationalism has asserted its snide voice and raised its ugly head. Xenophobia is being desperately promoted as patriotism. But let's unpack this whole "Love one another" issue.

   Many church services end with the words, "Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord." But is it really meant; or does it have qualifiers? I will again refer the reader to the footnote I made. My personal point of view is that churches, or "The Church" should be like "Doctors Without Borders." The latter group focuses on healing unwell/damaged bodies; the former, on sick souls. There will always be a contingent advocating for strict[er] borders, maintaining that they are necessary to, in so many words, 'keep out the riff-raff.' Certainly xenophobes find nothing wrong with their mindset, nor do they comprehend people who find this rigid position undesirable. How many folks truly question their motives? Personal accountability proves even more difficult, definitely more abstract, when several world leaders hold nationalist opinions.
   What is to be done? Make kindness a minimum standard. Start locally, by loving and serving those around you. It will make the world a better place.

* Depending, of course, on who is throwing the party. Sadly, not all denominations recognize others as being in full communion.