Goin' fishing . . .

Saturday. Sofa. Coffee.

It was quiet when I first awoke this morning.  But when the sky  lightened with the promise of the sun the birds on the hill began to warm up, like an orchestra.  But that's all they ever do.  Warm up. They never seem to worry about singing from the same page.  In fact they don't seem to worry 'bout a thing.  As if every little thing really is gonna be alright. Thank you Bob Marley. If all you do is click on that song and feel good today,  then my work here is done.  But  I will go ahead and finish this post anyway.

Then came another sound.   The rustling of weeds and vines cracking through the winter-hardened soil of my yard, creeping along the ground and wrapping around my house, trapping me inside.  I hope that was just my imagination.  Just in case I will spend a couple of hours in the yard later.

But, if the weather holds, I will go fishing at the farm. Forget the weeds and vines. It will be alright. At least I'll be trapped outside.

Actually, I will probably be watching a couple of other guys fish.  If I fish I might catch something.  And I don't have time to go to the doctor.

One of the fishermen today will be a young man from Nashville.  It is my understanding he hasn't been fishing much  during the decade or so that he has been alive.  But  what he lacks in experience he will make up in enthusiasm.

So we are planning, on this first fishing trip, to bring him into my house, find several good articles and even videos on the Internet, and let him study up on all he needs to know about fishing; about fish and bait (live or artificial)  and rods and reels and hooks and lures and line and when to fish and where to fish and .  .  . I don't know if we can get all the studying done in one day.  It could take several.days perhaps weeks of study to learn all he needs to know about fishing.  Maybe later in the course we'll invite some experts in to give some talks on the subject. We can probably have him fishing by Labor Day.  I am sure he will be able to pass the exam.

That's just silly.

Everybody knows you learn to fish by fishing. Our young guest may catch the biggest fish of the day the first time he drops a hook in the water, regardless of whether he did everything right, or everything wrong.  Don't get me wrong, it is important to learn from others who have been fishing for awhile.  The hook we toss around is sharp and barbed after all, and the fish seem to be much smarter than their scientific reputation would predict.  

But even that learning usually comes as you fish . . . with someone else who can teach you.

So, in a few hours, a baited hook will plunk into the water up around Snead, Alabama, and the lesson will commence, as will the fishing.

When Jesus called his first disciples, they were fishing. Jesus told them that from now on they would be fishing not for fish, but for people.

You can only sit on the bank and mend the nets for so long.  You can tie the prettiest flies and create the most beautiful lures, but until you hear that "plunk"  as the nets and the bait hit the water, you're never gonna catch a fish.

  And then he said, "Come, follow me."

The lessons, teaching and learning began immediately.

And so did the fishing.

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