Fishing and Following
Epiphany 5; Luke 5 1-11
Lord, don’t forsake the work of your own hands!
Like Simon, we have laboured in the dark,
then washed our empty nets upon the sands.
Our sense of failure leaves a hurtful mark.
Can we, like Simon, weary as we are,
set out again a little way from shore,
and face whoever comes from near or far,
and let the Word stir up our hidden core?
If Christ then bids us sail to probe the deep,
can we do as he says, although we doubt
that there is any bounty there to reap?
And might we find more than we dare draw out?
And once we hold abundance in our hands,
what if he says, “Leave all upon the sands?”
Barbara Messner 1/02/2022
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Barb, poet priest 
You tell the story then wrap it up in nets and give it to us … thank goodness we spend some time mending them. I think your poem will find its way into my sermon.
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As always, you are welcome to use it if it fits. I thought to start with that I couldn’t see the links that would draw us into the story, but in the end the net draw painfully tight. Three weeks from retirement, and I feel I’m being asked to leave too much behind on the sand!
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