I Hate Fishing PT II

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" The little voice echoed across the placid lake. "My line is tangled again!"

I sighed. I hate fishing. At least for the moment.

And then, I had a thought. Fishing for fish is a lot like fishing for men. Let me explain.

Jesus told his disciples early on to be fishers of men. Many were fisherman already, so this was a natural metaphor. Clearly, we are to take the gospel (Lit . "good news") to the ends of the earth, and the fishing analogy is really quite appropriate. To whit:

*You need the right bait, lure, and/or technique! I know some great fishermen, and they know what the fish are bighting on e.g. mayflies, minnows etc. A good fisherman knows what a trout likes versus a bass, what time of year it is, and where the fish like to hang out. In the same way, a good evangelist knows his audience and what makes them tick. Lately, some people in my neck of the woods are using open air preaching to try and "reach" people witht the gospel. This is just poor technique, though the goal is good-fishing for men. It is like using worms to catch a wild brook trout. Although you may get lucky, it doesn't work most of the time. Missionaries overseas truly study the people they are trying to reach-just quoting scripture doesn't work in most cultures, including this one.

*It can be frustrating. I caught no fish this last trip. And I rarely see people come to Christ here in Utah. But I have caught a bunch of fish in other lakes and I have led bunches of people to Christ in other places, e.g. California. They just aren't biting here. You can theorize all you want to, but only God really knows why.

*You want to quit when nothing happens. Who keeps throwing their line out when it's obvious nothing is biting? In the same way, I have shared my faith with many people here, but no bites. I have wanted to quit many times-but.......

*When you finally catch one, it suddenly seems worth it! I have been fishing for hours and am about ready to pack it in- it was a wasted trip. Suddenly the line jerks and I know I have one! It is a great feeling when I reel that big boy in! In the same way, when you help lead someone into a new relationship with Christ, it fills you with elation! (I say help, because it is not me who really leads anyone to Christ, but actually the Holy Spirit of God). All that time talking, praying, thinking, perhaps reasoning and debating-it does seem worth it after all! And then you want to do it again!

So do I really hate fishing-for fish or for men? Well, not really. It just depends when you catch.... me.

I Hate Fishing

I suppose that is a little bit of exageration. I don't actually hate fishing. It's just not on my top ten list of things to do. If I have free time, there are lots of other things that tend to jump into my mind before fishing. But since I live in Utah, the mountains, and am surrounded my people who love to fish, I do it.

Now, every book on good fathering tells you to take your son (sorry girls) fishing. Good bonding and all that; part of being a man, etc. My own father never took me fishing-he found it pretty boring and would rather watch football. Ironically, when we would go back to Tennessee to visit my grandparents, my grandfather always took us and my dad enthusiastically went. After all, that is what you do with your grandfather! So I learned to fish pretty young and had a lot of fun. We caught mostly what they called brim,which is perch or sunfish. We used bait, worms etc.
So every few years I was Tom Sawyer for an afternoon, sitting by a lake or in a boat with my line in the water, just hoping something would bite.

In the west though, we mostly fish for trout and use flies, lures, etc. It takes a lot more effort and skill. Friends here introduced me to spinners, etc. which I had never seen before. And so I and others have taught my son to fish and he loves it! In fact last weekend, he caught a 14 inch brook trout in a small lake in the Uintah's. I am told that is huge for a brookie. He was one very proud sportsman. I smiled with satisfaction. Manhood 101 is going well.

So why do I "hate" fishing? Well, I don't usually catch much for one thing. Secondly, I am usually with kids and spend most of my time freeing hooks from overhanging trees, untangling lines, or trying to keep the dog from being snagged instead of the trout. Last week I think every other cast I made got caught on an underwater log or rock. In short, it just wasn't much fun.

But it was a blast to see the grins on the kid's faces as they reeled them in. Everyone in our group caught at least one. We had quite a fish dinner at our campsite that night, under the stars with a roaring fire. It was the last trip of summer and it was, well.....good.

But it still isn't my thing.

Interestingly, the parallels with evangelism, i.e. fishing for men, are amazing!

See you next time for that one!

Sentinal

I am special.

Everyone has told me that since I was born. I guess I kind of accept it now, as it is clear I will never be your average dog. Yep, that's me in the middle. I am a black lab named Sentinal and today my life changed forever. As this is being written I am on my way to Oregon for some intensive training to be a guide dog for a blind person. If I do well of course. My family says it's kind of like going off to college. They were even all crying (well, the man just a little) and saying goodbye. Humans are kind of strange like that.

It's hard to believe it was over a year ago that I was on a long truck trip. My litter mates and others like me left California and traveled for days. Now, I have been fussed over since I was born-checked and double checked, all kinds of shots and exams-I have to tell you I got a little tired of it. My mom seemed used to it, as she has seen it all before. When they took me away from her, I was very used to people, but missed her a lot. The truck was fun though-lots of pups like me. But with every stop, there were fewer and fewer of us. Until one day it was my turn.

The driver came in and scooped me out of my cage. "It's your turn today buddy!" he exclaimed. He took me in his arms and we entered a big building in Salt Lake City. He stood outside a door and I heard someone inside say" And, noooooowwww....SENTINAL!"

He carried me in and people were cheering and clapping. A grinning blond girl (the one in the picture) took me in her arms and hugged me and I licked her face. I guess you could say it was love at first sight! (Hey, she was really pretty!) Then another pretty blond girl took me too and I could tell from the start they were both going to love me big time! After that, lots of people held me and ooohed and aahhed and it went on and on. Eventually, we all got in a car and drove for a while. Finally I found myself in a very nice home with people who obviously thought I was...well, like I said, special! I took turns living with the blond girls and their families, alternating weeks. It was a little weird, but I got used to it.

Since then, they have taken care of me and taught me some very important stuff-like not pooping on the floor. (For humans, this is a very big deal) I learned things that really seem to make them happy, like sitting and staying on command (this is so easy I don't do it sometimes just to see what the humans do). The biggest thing they do is take me virtually everywhere: church, movies, restaraunts,camping,school (I went to school A LOT), camping-like I said, everywhere! This makes sense, since one day I will lead a blind person. The man in the picture even took me somewhere called "campus". He seemed to enoy it, which is good because I think he didn't like me too much at first-he thought I was a hassle and for some reason got excited when I peed on the carpet and chewed up his stuff. But he got over it!

It hasn't all been fun though. It's been tough on me sometimes: they just won't let me be a dog! I mean come on, I can't chase a ball, run at the park, play with other dogs,chew on stuff...frankly, it gets to me sometimes. But they say it's because I was born for, well, bigger things. I felt better when I heard the man tell the blond girl that she was kind of in the same situation. He said she was special too, and sometimes she just shouldn't do what a lot of other kids do, because God made her for bigger things. That's hard for humans too, I guess. We all have to trust that it is worth it!

One thing I know they appreciated was how quiet I am. I guess a lot of dogs kind of run off at the mouth. They say I have only woofed about five times! I didn't think much of it really-that's just who I am.

Well, all that's over now. I will miss those blond girls-I grew to love them and will always remember them. If I make it through the program, they told me they would come to my gradaution. That would be awesome! I know they are praying for me-and for the blind person I will be matched up with.

So here we go!

I will return here some day and let you know how it all turns out!

Thanks for reading-and I hope you know that God has plans for you too!