Dip Netting - 7/2024

Dip Netting – What Lies Beneath the Churning Waters

My son lives in Alaska. He is there with his beautiful family in that great state full of power and majesty. Just yesterday my son went dip netting. As a resident of Alaska, he, as head of a family, may take 25 salmon out of the rivers per year and 10 more for each of his family members which comes to 55. As you remember from science class, each year the salmon return home to spawn which involves a grueling run back up the river against the current. The salmon has to swim 300 miles between glaciers. The tiring journey creates an opportunity for fisherman. Along the river are eddies where the fish enter to rest on their journey. Some sections accessible only by boat, the fisherman takes refuge along the steep walls of the riverbanks’ raging waters’ edge equipped with grit, his dip net (a long-handled fishing net with up to a five-foot diameter opening), food and perhaps a hammock for sleeping. The fisherman lowers the net into the water and waits for the unsuspecting salmon to enter which begins a tug of war. Salmon are strong. A good catch will leave the hardiest of men exhausted. The waters churn so fast that the water is muddy, and you cannot see what lies underneath. This subsistence fishing is a rich part of Alaska’s cultural heritage.

As I ponder this sport, I am reminded of my own spiritual walk. There are days when it is clear how to live as a Christian woman and yet there are days where muddied waters seem to cloud the view. We live in days of distraction and plentitude. We are bombarded by a raging political and cultural rhetoric; we are inundated by ads and social media outlets vying to capture our attention and our time. It is a Pandora’s box. We crack open a small opening to view what lies beneath the water and a deluge of information comes spilling out. The art of dip netting, rigorous and raw, is also pure. It is man against nature. Using tools that can be man-made, it is a return to something ancient. I long for this. I need a return to God’s creation which reminds me of His Power and Beauty. I need to attend more services that the church offers and receive the Eucharist which is given by God to man. I need this nourishment, this respite from the hectic pace of life and I need to be renewed and refreshed in my soul. Christ tells us that we are to be fishers of men. Let me be captured first in His net. I need what the church offers. A new liturgical season is approaching us heralded by the first 15 days of August leading up to the feast day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. May this time be refreshing and renewing to all of us. May it fill our net!