Sophia Bank's Blog: Fisherman—Feed the Whole Earth

Rod and Hook

The odyssey of the fisherman is a humble experience. Bursting with the excitement of youth, the fisherman is compelled to equate his fishing failures with the unpretentiousness of the philosopher. Conversely, to be blessed with the earth’s abundance, he must attain a close affinity to that of a scholar.

Trial and error have their place in the learning curve of the fisherman. Notwithstanding, it is the thought process of the fisherman that will locate the secret places of the bass.

Patience is a virtue, say the wise.

Patience is the weapon of the fisherman. Through patience, he studies the movements of the steelhead to discover the whereabouts of the walleye. Through wisdom he discovers the acceptance of the fish to the activities of earthly life, thus arriving at a semblance of kinship with the fish. From this understanding and connection, the fisherman brings the fish willingly to its fate.

Not wasteful, neither supercilious, the fisherman establishes a devotion to the water and land the fish lives in, eventually becoming a devoted steward of the fish’s watery home, in the fervent hope and prayer that the fish continues to exist, so that he can subsist on its meat.

In a spiritual awakening, the fisherman’s cast transcends earthly time, he and his fly line vanishing into the wave function. By his patience, the subatomic particles of the fish are observed by his faith, thus collapsing the wave function.

With a dramatic pull of the fisherman’s rod, the fish hurdles through space and time, materializes over the glimmering water, and eats the bait on the fisherman’s hook.

Feed the Whole Earth

Under the bright sun, above the river’s current, the fisherman’s line spreads across the air with the weightlessness of a whisper. The practice of a wrist flick reveals a pensive idea, replete with cunning, seeking to entice the salmon with the enthralling flutter of the fly.

Standing in the placid water, brandishing the tools of the artist, the fisherman’s artistic expression beckons to the earth’s bounty. Like the inspiration that moves the writer’s hands to strike the keys and pen an inspirational story, that guides the hands of the musician to pluck and caress the guitar strings to a magnificent song, that escorts the hands of the painter to brush the precise strokes of the master, the fisherman’s hands are the conduits that express a deeper meaning. In the crafting of the lure, in the glancing of the bait’s shadow, in the tantalizing skim off the glistening water, the artistry of the fisherman is witnessed.

Standing upon a pedestal made of water and spirit, the fisherman assumes the place of a spiritual artist, seeking out nourishment not of this world.

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

—Mark 1:17 KJV

Clearly radiant in the pleasing sunlight, removed from the trials and sufferings of a cold, starving world, the fisherman, guided by Providence, seeks the refuge of a river or lake to experience the work of the Master. Blessed with the bounty of Heaven, the fisherman gives freely from his earthly basket, never dismayed by the limits of this earthly existence.

With but five loaves and two fishes, the Fisherman feeds the whole earth.

—Matthew 14: 15-21 KJV