Still Smelling of Fish

Still Smelling of Fish

(“Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.’” Mark 1:17)

The day started with warm breezes wafting in from
beyond the hills wading in the shallow waters of the lake.
We knew the fishing would be good. Our nets were mended,
our food was stocked, and we were ready to stay on the water
for the whole day,

And it exceeded expectations

We were about to dock on the sand after a few more casts
of our nets. We were ready to head home after
sorting the fish by kind and size.

Then they heard words that did not register. There was the
noise of the freshening breeze plus the crosstalk of fellow
fishermen asking about each other’s haul.

We heard him say “Follow me! I’ll teach you how to catch people.”
We were not clear we had heard right but we looked toward the
voice
and recognized him immediately. We had heard him teach the
last two days at the beach. We lined up like birds on a wire and
were awestruck by his words about God’s Dream for the world.

We had little idea what catching people meant, but he was
magnetic
and we were ready charged for a change of venue. But my
brother and I
dropped our nets where they were and decided to take the risk.
We followed still smelling of fish.

The Answer to Every Question

The Answer to Every Question

(“This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.” 1 John 4:10)

You would know me from a distance,
I have the same appeal I did when we first met.
We can start again because we have ended at the same
fork in the road. Tell me which way you will go and
I will turn that way too. Tell me your destination and
I will make it my own. Follow me, I may not know where
we will end up,
but I know I want to go there with you.
My car is old and slower than it used to be,
but we can still get there if we take our time.
I will take my time until the breeze whispers that
you are mine.
Feel it all, the large and the small; let the emotions
that are hidden come out into the afternoon sun. Put
them in my hand and I will massage them, the hurting ones.
Put them in my hand and I will cherish them, the loving ones.
Waiting only postpones the way our souls relate,
putting it off increases the ennui. Can’t tell if it’s
right or wrong,
I just want to sing the words of the song and watch them
etch beloved lyrics upon your face. You might smile
while I am awkward with the tune. But you will know,
later or soon, how much they mean.
We both have been bogged down in tradition,
we both have been forced to keep the rules that keep us
fenced up like incarcerated rabbits caught nibbling the garden.
Today I do not even need to persuade you,
today I only want to upgrade the love first begun.
We can get out and walk once we reach our destination,
we can feel the sand between our toes. We can feel our
hands lightly touching,
we can hear the surf filling in the words we have forgotten.
And in that moment you know and I know there is nothing
we could tell that would drive us away.
The universe answers with the deepest love when we
ask the questions we have been afraid to ask.
It is you, I have seen you in the storm;
It is you; I have loved you in the warm and quiet
afternoons. And only hope to be loved too.
Then you take my hand and put it on your face and
I know
No one can replace you, then or now, and I take
you in my arms and hold you softly as our eyes
kiss and we know the answer to every question we’ve been asking.