Pastor's Pen - August 22, 2018

The Pastor’s Pen                       

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”               Matthew 4:19 New International Version 

The stripers were running this week, so the men went out to fish, giddy as schoolboys on holiday. They remembered to take their lunch, but forgot the sunscreen, intent on launching before the turning of the tide. 

Fishing may bring to mind lazy summer days with a cane pole dangling into some quiet farm pond for some. I remember lying on the dock with my Uncle Marvin, looking up at the wisp of clouds, dreaming. Not so as these men went out to sea. Restless men accustomed to keeping the wheels greased and trains running on the tracks of the world, now content themselves with securing their own bait, setting the lines, and expectantly waiting.  

These holiday fishermen find their flow, synchronized as any dancer: muscle, line and sea.  If for only a moment, the suffering of the world falls away as they quit the house, intent on doing work their souls must have. At days end, sweat soaked and weary, they lift their sacred catch, an offering to God.  

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” You, who lay down your life for a striped bass, singularly understand what it takes to give it all, spend it now for the glory of God. Go fish. 

Prayer: God of all creation, we stand at the shore hungry and waiting. As Jesus built a fire on the shore so long ago, feeding his friends some roasted fish and the bread of life, so may we feed one another for your sake and our joy. Amen 

God’s grace, mercy and peace, 

Pastor Anna V. Copeland