Last summer we installed a garden pond at our house. Actually, there are two ponds, one above the other with a waterfall between them. We have attempted to put fish in these ponds with varying degrees of success. Some have not adjusted to their new home, others were evicted by local felines. None-the-less, we have managed to keep some and enjoy watching them immensely.
Naming fish is not easy. They have personalities, and they vary by color, type and size. But who knows a fish’s gender? It’s only around breeding time that you have any idea. One of the goldfish seems to be adding weight that the others aren’t, so I’ve named her Ma Fishes. There are two Black Moores in the upper pond, but since the pond is black, one rarely sees both at the same time. I’ve named one Moore and the other Les. So if you see one, you see one, Moore or Les.
Then there is Buff. Buff is like a Black Moore, only not black. He’s got the same short, fat body, the same wispy tail, the same bulgy eyes, the same graceless waddle swim. But he’s not black, he’s buff. So I called him Buff, which is also the acronym aircrews have for the B 52 bomber “Big Ugly Fat Fellow”.
Each fish is unique and has its own personality, like us, they are not alike. Yet if they are going to survive, they have to survive together. So I try to pick fish that tolerate each other well. Apparently, God is not so selective when it comes to us. We also come in varieties of shape, size, color, not to mention gender. Our pond is the world, which one would think adequate for all. Yet we are a long way from being content with each other. We fight when it is unnecessary. We hoard when there is ample supply. We exclude in order to expand our own opportunities. Most of the problems people face in the modern world we created ourselves. While this is not an easy place to survive, and we must engage in certain aspects of these activities, are we condemned to be defined by them?
Jesus advised that we should seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things would be added to us.
“Not in this pond!”
one might respond.
“God must not know big fish are fond
of eating little ones, and also that’s
not even counting all those cats.”
Actually, God knows precisely how it works down here. He installed the pond and made the all the fish. His plan is that none should perish, but that all should be saved. That will require us to challenge our instincts, and sometimes common sense. It means bearing things that are not our burdens and suffering when we don’t deserve it. It means that whenever possible, we salvage what is worthless. It means making judgements from the standpoint of the salvaged, which is who we are.
Fish never learn, I don’t think they are supposed to. So I’ll not be putting a catfish in the pond. But God expects us to learn, not in spite of our differences, but because of them. We better learn fast. The pond isn’t getting any bigger.
Rev. Dennis P. Levin