Friday, November 25, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Hi! For my first post on this shiny new blog, I am sharing a little story of mine titled "A Fishy Business". You can also find this story at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12222330/1/A-Fishy-Business. I hope you enjoy!
We’re all over the
Bible.
We’re all over the present.
Most people don’t even notice us other than the mere
mentions of our great multiplication in Jesus’ hands.
My name is Talya, and I speak for the fish.
We fish were created along with all those other
creatures, way back in the beginning. Here’s the words to prove it—and I quote—
And God created
great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought
forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.
That’s Genesis 1:21, people. We fish count under the
whole “every living creature that moveth,” part. Trust me. I know.
Okay, so, fast forward a little while. We fish are
practically non-existent in the part between the creation and the plagues in
Egypt. Oh, sure, you human-people ate us. No doubt about that. But there’s no
mention of my kind until Exodus 7:21:
And the fish that
was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink
of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of
Egypt.
See, Egyptians, it wasn’t just you and your
firstborns that died in those ten plagues over Egypt. We fish died too.
Fish don’t just show up in all the bad stories of the Bible,
though. Just look at the story of Jonah. Yeah, sure, for him that big fish was
kind of a bad story, but look! By obeying Yahweh, one of my people did a great
service to Jonah. And he didn’t even have to drown to learn his lesson.
Another good one (I love this story!): A fish was used to
pay Christ’s taxes once. Well, not literally, but you get the idea. Jesus sent
Peter down to the sea, and when he caught a fish, he opened up the fish’s mouth
and found the tax money. Not so bad, eh?
We also did a pretty good job of providing for the
disciples’ families, too. You didn’t think that Jesus would just pick up twelve
men and leave their wives at home to take care of themselves, did you? Peter
had a wife—at least, he certainly had a mother-in-law! We helped take care of
them.
What, you say? What do I mean, fish provided for the
wives of the disciples? Check it out in Luke 5 and John 21. I’ll just quote
Luke 5 verses, oh, 4 to 11.
Now when he—that’s
Jesus, by the way—had left speaking, he
said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a
draught.
And
Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have
taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
And
when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their
net brake.
And
they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that
they began to sink.
When
Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I
am a sinful man, O Lord.
For
he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes
which they had taken:
And
so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with
Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch
men.
And
when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
Now, pay special
attention to that last verse. What do you suppose they did with all that fish?
Two boats’ worth, people! They didn’t just throw them back into the sea! How much do you want to bet that they sold those
fish, and that’s what helped take care of those families for those three years
they were on the road? Huh? What do you think?
So, see. We fish, we’re more important than you think.
Remember that next time you throw a stick of dynamite
into the river and watch our lifeless bodies float up to the surface.
Remember that next time you order a filleted fish.
We are important.
Note: A couple little notes about this story: First, yes,
Talya’s introduction up there is an obvious rip-off of The Lorax, both the movie and the Doctor Seuss book. I own neither.
The “fact” Talya presents about the fish from the
miraculous catches being used to provide for the disciples’ families is not a fact, despite what she may say.
It’s just speculation on my and my sisters’ part.
Oh, and the dynamite-fishing there at the end? It’s
common here in South America. No better way to ensure your living by fishing!
So, what do you think? How did Jesus provide for the
disciples’ families while they followed him? And what other creatures of the
Bible are very much ignored?
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