Here, Snookie Snookie…

We’re going fishing today.  I can hardly wait!  It’s the last day of Snook Season.  It doesn’t open again until March.

Snook is my favorite fish to catch… and eat!  It’s hard to catch.  Wary… not easily fooled or coaxed onto a hook.  Fights like crazy… even jumping out of the water to throw the hook. Runs for cover under docks or mangroves.  Anything that might cut the line.

Delicious, too!  And it can’t be commercially fished.  So the only way to eat it is to catch it… or have a friend catch it and share it.  I haven’t had Snook in the longest time…

I saw the cutest home video yesterday.  (One of the great blessings of Facebook).  A little girl fishing. Filmed by her Dad. Using her pink Barbie rod and reel.  She couldn’t be more than five years old.

She has a fish on the line.  She’s reeling it in… squealing with delight!  Screaming for her Daddy’s help… all the while smiling gleefully and/or laughing out loud.  Her Dad is coaching her.  Encouraging her.  But he doesn’t take over.  This fish, if it is to be landed, is hers all the way.

It isn’t clear what she has hooked until the fish is right next to the boat.  A monster bass!  Twenty inches! A trophy in any adult angler’s eyes!  Dad pulls it out of the water.  She jumps up and down, shouting:  “I caught one! I caught one! Finally!”

Will that be me today, Daddy?   🙂

It reminds me of another kind of fishing we are to be doing.

“‘Come, follow Me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.'”  (Matthew 4:19)

People are not unlike Snook… are we, Lord?  At least, I wasn’t… back in the days Before You.  I, too, was… wary.  Not easily “fooled” or “coaxed.”  I fought like crazy, too.  Ran for cover.  Tried to cut whatever line might draw me closer to You.

Not because of You, Lord.  Because of me.  And all the Lies I had come to believe about You…  and me.

So what does it take to fish for men?  I can’t help but think about a billboard near our home.  It hasn’t been rented yet, but it is filled with a clever message advertising its availability.

A little boy is pictured.  He can’t be more than five years old.  The photographer caught him leaping in mid-air… with a smile that lights up the surrounding landscape.  The caption says it all:

“Use your outdoor voice.”

That’s how we fish for men… isn’t it, Lord?  By using our “outdoor voice”… so Your Message is heard above The Noise.  We just have to remember that we often speak loudest when we close our mouths altogether… and open our hearts.  Giving of ourselves… to those who really need more of You.

“Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words.”  (St. Francis of Assisi)

We’re going fishing today… aren’t we, Daddy?

I can hardly wait!   🙂

Abba’s Girl

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *