Not that they needed my help. They were hooking fish up and down the river on San Juan worms, RS2's and black midges. I helped do some netting and releasing but Dad had already taught his daughter how to net and release fish.
Dad was fishing well. Really well; but Bonny was out fishing him (funny how that often happens with Father's and daughters). The fishing was so good and they were doing so well that I wondered why I was even there. Was I really needed? They did not need much guiding.
Yet, right from the start they had my attention because whenever I see a Dad and daughter spending special time on a river it tugs on my heart. I have two daughters of my own and we have spent special time on rivers together. So, while they had my attention I started to wonder if I was here to learn something from them or maybe even the rocks themselves. It felt like I was in a "thin place" and I was about to become aware of something.
As we fished, Ken and I talked. I told him I had just retired from education and I was mainly now only guiding on this river.We both spoke of how we did not like how certain aspects of "religion". can be ugly and yet agreed there was a creator to the beauty we were looking at. Ken got quiet for a moment and gazed at the sunlight on the granite canyon walls and then said. "Anthony, look around you. Take it all in. You are living my dream. I would love to retire and move here and be able to fish this river all the time"
He repeated the phrase, . "Look around you. Take it all in".
"Anthony, Look around you. Take it all in". .
"Anthony, Look around you. Take it all in."
"Look around you and take it all in."
But can I learn what it is that 'he' was wanting me to see?
.
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI think Ken was talking about Beauty, what God has given us through His creation. I love Eleven Mile Canyon for its beauty, and everything one loves makes life worthwhile. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “For the world is not painted or adorned, but is from the beginning beautiful; and God has not made some beautiful things, but Beauty is the creator of the universe.” If we only looked around at all the beauty that surrounds us, we would be in a constant prayer of thanksgiving with the Father. Jesus was confronted with the question of the real point of our existence, and he boiled it all down to two things: Loving God and loving others. Do this, He said, and you will find the purpose of your life. Beauty and love are closely intertwined. How can we not love God for all the beauty he has provided, in nature as well as relationships.