Women Saying Yes to the Journey of Fly Fishing

I think women are generally better at certain things than men. Simply being able to say “yes” to participating in a fly fishing and faith retreat seems to be one of them.

The Reverend Jim White and I have been doing these fly fishing retreats for several years now. Women have been the most responsive. In talking with one of the participants this past weekend, Chris, said, “When I saw the invitation I just said yes”.  I have to admire such decisiveness. Men should be as decisive but often we perpetually waver caught in between stagnation, fatigue, desperation and perceived responsibility. “The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation,” said Thoreau.

Poetry by e.e Cummings seemed fitting as these women all said  ‘yes’ to the adventure to fly fish under  the beauty of a blue sky.  We felt the soulfulness of his words: “I thank you God for this most  amazing day, for  leaping greenly spirits of trees, for a blue true dream of sky above, for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is, YES.”

Poetry:  Another area where women are generally more moved in their souls and have a  greater depth of understanding. And these women knew poetry, literature and seemed to have access to the inner life.  

Community: These women could talk about what they felt inside with one another and were readily expressive.

Thankfulness: Once again, I think women are generally more thankful for life and its opportunities. This even seemed to be true in regard to fly fishing as men can be too wrapped up in performance. These women often said, “It does not matter if I catch a fish”. Women generally just love to be on the river trying something new and taking in their surroundings. They are generally more holistic and intuitive in their approach and will often catch fish even as they are not focused on catching fish. .

So we casted our flies on the river and as they sank slowly and tumbled along the bottom we hoped for a tug. At times rainbows and browns took the fly. In a similar fashion we dropped our thoughts, words and prayers into the mystery which we call God and hoped for something to stir in our souls.  I don’t know if there was a response or what that response could be as I am mainly ignorant of such matters. But I do know we sat still in silence. We sat still in contemplation. We hoped.

In the end there was thankfulness for the adventure and the time together. There was thankfulness for this most amazing day and for all these brave women who simply said, “Yes”.