Luke 5:1-11
   A Jewish carpenter  went fishing...

          1 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennes'aret. 2 And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zeb'edee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. 

          I think a common thread of mine is the fact that we need to always be listening, to God, each other and to our surroundings. Another common thread that people who follow me will note is the theme of growth. We need to be constantly growing, stretching, being reborn. When you fail to listen or fail to grow, you really are dying. Your body may live to 80 but you can die at 50.

           Here is a reading that speaks of listening and the rewards that are yours if you do. Picture it, Sicily,  err, Gennes'aret 32AD. Peter the fisherman has been at it all night and caught nothing. Along comes Jesus, a carpenter, and he says, cast your nets over again.  A carpenter telling a fisherman how to fish. Really? Still, Peter does as Jesus suggests and the catch is so big, the boats are almost to the point of sinking. 

            It just goes to show, you never know where the answer to your problems are going to come from. And similarly, you don't know where the source of your great fortune will come from either. I put my trust in that Jewish carpenter fellow. What I think that is worth thinking hard about is the listening aspect. Perhaps we'd all be better off if we listened to the other chap, try very hard to see what he sees and hear what he hears. It may be an eye opener, or a heart opener, or a mind opener. 

            Let's not be arrogant enough to think that only we can supply the answers or that our answers can't come at a moments notice from a totally unexpected source.

            Anybody up for some fishing ?