March 25, 2011
For the Journal-Review
The dew was still on the ground and my pants were wet from walking down the hillside to the spillway. A mist was coming from the water and you could hear the tiny rushing sound as the stream was full of bubbling water.
A glob of night crawlers was impaled to the hook and a red-and-white bobber was attached to the line. The rig kurplunked neatly on the water and the bobber stood tall. It floated gently downstream as my Dad adjusted himself on a rock.
It’s the anticipation that makes fishing so much fun. What’s going to happen? Will the bobber go down, detecting a bite? I remember the feeling in my throat as I looked at my Dad, hoping he would catch the first fish today.
I was talking to a friend about the joys of fishing. He didn’t get it. What happens when you catch one, he asked. What’s the big deal? What’s the point? I’m not going to reach my hand into that water. In fact, he witnessed a good-size catfish being caught right near his lakeside home. As a result, for him swimming has become a hazardous activity.
I realize not every reader is going to get it. Maybe I am a country boy at heart. For me, fishing is a concrete expression of fulfilling a dream. Years ago, a division of Paramount Studios would begin each movie with a half-moon in the sky and a Tom Sawyer figure sitting on the curved end, fishing pole in hand, and a bobber in the water.
I can’t think of a better description of dreams than the joy of fishing. Because it is the anticipation that counts – it is the hope of something biting that hook, playing it out, and reeling it in. For the past several years I have been a catch-and-release fisherman. I now prefer to release my catch. So I get the added bonus of watching that fish regain its strength and dash into the deep. Talk about a thrill!
You see, that’s what dreams do. It brings joy to our hearts. Every time I cast my line into the water I am committing an act of faith. I truly believe that my bait, my lure, my “presentation” as the experts call it, is going to trick a fish into biting. And when it happens, it brings joy.
Faith is a bit like fishing. All that God wants to do in your life, God does on the basis of faith. Someone once said, “Faith is to the Christian life what a mainspring is to a watch.” It is indispensable. Everybody has faith. Even an atheist has faith. The only difference is what you put it in and the amount you have.
Faith is such an important concept; you cannot describe it in simply one word or one definition. Faith is like a diamond. It has many different facets to it. It has many different shapes and sides.
Yet, it is important to have a working definition of faith. Why is faith important? What’s the point? What to do you do with it once you have it? How does it apply in my life?
Faith always begins with a picture, a mental image, a dream, a vision and an idea. God gave Abraham a picture. God came to Abraham one day and said, “Abraham, I’m going to make you the father of a great nation. You’re going to have a lot of children.” For Abraham, that was hard to believe.
So God gives Abraham a picture. He took him outside and said, “Look at the heavens. Count the stars, indeed, if you can count them! So shall your offspring be. That’s how may descendants you’re going to have.” God starts by stretching our imagination, by giving us a dream, a vision.
In Mark 5 there is a story about a woman who had been sick for 12 years. Her excessive bleeding made her ceremonially unclean in Jewish culture. That meant she had no social life. She couldn’t be out in a crowd.
One day she heard that Jesus Christ was coming to town. She said, “If I could just touch his robe I’ll be healed.” So she took the initiative and did something daring. She went out into the crowd and pushes her way through and comes up behind Jesus and touches the back of his robe. She is instantly healed.
Jesus recognizes the touch of faith. He says, “Who touched me?” People are pressing in all around him in the crowd. No one knew. But Jesus knew the difference in this touch. The woman comes in front and she says, “I did, Lord.” And he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole.”
She took the initiative. She broke the rules. She went beyond the boundaries. She pressed ahead, worked her way through the crowd, and because she took the initiative found the healing she so desperately needed. Faith is the solution to procrastination.
I know not everyone is going to get it. Just like fishing, people have different ideas on how to enjoy God’s gift of nature. I do believe though that God wants to give someone in Montgomery County a message of hope in tough times.
Don’t be afraid to stretch your imagination. Don’t be afraid to dream. This is what faith means. And, don’t be afraid to take the initiative. Don’t be afraid to make that first step even if seems unconventional in your world.
There is no greater thrill in life – even fishing pales in comparison – to a renewed life found in Jesus Christ. He beckons each one of us into a life full of anticipation, hope and fulfillment.
