Parable of the Fishless Fishermen

They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!

Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized they had been going about it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know. So they began research studies, and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to far away places to study different kinds of fish with different habits. Some got doctorates in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.

So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen, the committee needed to determine priorities. A prior list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the Fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched to find out why. Most did not answer the survey, but from those who did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, a few to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging the fishermen. What with meetings, conferences and seminars, they simply didn't have time to fish.

Now, Jake was a newcomer to the Fishermen's Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught a large fish. At the next meeting he told his story and was honored for his catch. He was told he had a special "gift of fishing." He was then scheduled to speak at the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it.

With all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fishermen's Fellowship, Jake no longer had time to go fishing. Soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut his speaking, he resigned from the board and said to a friend, "let's go fishing." They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish. The members of the Fishermen's Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers were few!

~Anonymous