So Many Fish, So Much Life

Dear Friends,

I know you’re all wondering: the fish are doing well.

All the goldfish that we put in the pond in our “Planted in Promise” display are great. They still have a tendency to hide under the rocks, but they are getting braver as they get accustomed to their new home. They dart out and say “Hi” more frequently. Though I still don’t think I’ve seen them all at once, I know they’re there.

Father Logan had a brilliant image in his sermon last week, about how the fish in Ezekiel’s vision represented all the life that’s under the surface. Whereas the trees in Ezekiel’s vision — towering, green, bearing fruit each month — were visible and celebrated, the fish were hidden. The darted around beneath the surface, hugging the shore and flitting among the rocks on the bottom.

I’ve been reflecting all week on Logan’s line and about how very much of our life at St. Andrew’s is under the surface. There’s no way at worship on Sunday morning to see our Finance Committee meeting about interest rates, or our choir rehearsing, or our Bible studies meeting, or the prayer chains over text, or the tables moved, or the copies made, or the stories told, or the Vice Rector abducted by an alien. So many fish! Even I don’t see them all in one place (and I see more than many people). I’m sure you don’t see them all either, but they are there.

On Sunday morning, when you come to worship you won’t be able to miss the great big tree in the Narthex. But it may take a little more effort to spot the fish. In fact, if you don’t look for them, you might not ever know they’re there. But there are all sorts of fish in that pond, just as there is all sorts of life beneath the surface at St. Andrew’s. And your generosity this stewardship season will make sure that the “fish” — as well as the “trees” — of our common life together continue to thrive.

In Christ,
Fr. Andrew