Praying for Trout?

[RabbiEE]

From my article this week:

In the course of my years of fly fishing, I have probably spoken dozens of prayers while on the stream. When the sun was well below the horizon, and there was just enough light to tie on one more fly, I said to myself: “Please let one more trout rise.” When the rain clouds were forming, and it looked like my day of fly fishing was going to be cut short, I may have whispered: “Just a little longer, please.” And of course, when the trout were not biting, and every cast and every fly was ineffective, I might have said out of frustration: “Come on, just one bite.”

As The Fly Fishing Rabbi, sometimes people ask me if my prayers for trout to rise are answered more readily than those of everyone else. I think not. I’m just as likely to get rained on, or to lose my fly in the dark or not to catch a single fish as anyone.

As I thought about praying on the stream, I asked myself: What should we pray for when fly fishing? Is there such a thing as a blessing for fly fishing?

There are prayers that are good for fly fishing, and they are prayers of thanksgiving. Ironically, I am more likely to say a prayer of thanks when I am not catching fish. When the water is silent, and I cannot get a bite, and I am not too frustrated, then I sometimes take a moment to look around. I watch the river flow by. I feel the breeze. I smell the pine needles.

When I see the beauty of nature, I ask myself: How did such an amazing earth come to be? What did I do to deserve to live in such a beautiful place? Feelings of awe, connection and humility come to me. And then I am led to a simple response: “thank you.” Saying “thank you” when fly fishing is to acknowledge that this earth we live on is a gift. Saying “Dear God, thank you” when on the stream is to offer up a prayer.

Rabbi E

[UKFisher]

How did such an amazing earth come to be?

By the slow, inexorable creep of evolution and natural selection!

[pyko]

How did such an amazing earth come to be?

By the slow, inexorable creep of evolution and natural selection!

Not according to Dubbya... :glare:

[UKFisher]

I know... And it terrifies me! Although those percentages sound very high, even for America...

[FMartin]

That is very sad... and quite dangerous, if I may add, for those of us living in the wrong place...

But, I think it's a very interesting topic, indeed. I'm an atheist, yet I guess my fisihing day starts always as a sort of act of faith (faith in my poor angling skills, faith in that the fish will be there, and that the fish will make me believe I've fooled it with a fly, etcetera). I wonder if fly fishing is possible at all for a pesimistic nature...

Best wishes,

F. R. Martin

[grey duster]

It is theoretically possible I suppose, but most unlikely ...

[mattklara]

I think we may be missing the Rabbi's point here, guys.

I think regardless of denomination, religious preference, beliefe, etc, we all have a lot to be thankful for.

Free time, friends, family, wonderful rivers, the list goes on.

Take a look at today's POD for some sobering reality.

Thanks Rabbi for an interesting thread starter.

Matt

[UKFisher]

Matt this is true, however I don't think we have to invoke a supernatural being in order to express our thanks...

[gollum]

Nice one Rabbi

[piscator]

The principle of god is necessary for science.

Unfortunately there are a lot of ignorant preachers and a lot of ignorant scientists and I guess they make a living arguing with each other and generally talking nonsense.

God is the concept of being, it's a first cause, it's the program, the software of the universe if you will. It's not a man on a cloud. That's what a 3 year old who walks into a frescoed church might be excused for thinking.

For a scientist who devotes his life to the study of the program (laws of nature) to deny the existance of that same program is absurd. You can be hard headed and not want to call it god but it's better than "whatever" and He even visits the board every once in a while.....

[Paul Arden]

Well I agree with that.

[God]

Me too.

[rrw35]

The principle of god is necessary for science.

Unfortunately there are a lot of ignorant preachers and a lot of ignorant scientists and I guess they make a living arguing with each other and generally talking nonsense.

God is the concept of being, it's a first cause, it's the program, the software of the universe if you will. It's not a man on a cloud. That's what a 3 year old who walks into a frescoed church might be excused for thinking.

For a scientist who devotes his life to the study of the program (laws of nature) to deny the existance of that same program is absurd. You can be hard headed and not want to call it god but it's better than "whatever" and He even visits the board every once in a while.....

Nicely put Piscator.

The concept of "God" is as believable to me as the Big Bang theory.

Suddenly there was nothing, then a large explosion occured and suddenly there was infinity, galaxies, planets and life Hmmm..... :glare: :glare:

Not 100% sure if it happened within the format of Christian beliefs either, but its just as plausible IMO.

As the late Dave Allen used to say, at the end of his shows...

"May your God go with you".

[Paul Arden]

Yes Ryan they're both pretty far out, but we are here, so something amazing happened. Or is happening...

I love puzzles.

[UKFisher]

The concept of "God" is as believable to me as the Big Bang theory.

Suddenly there was nothing, then a large explosion occured and suddenly there was infinity, galaxies, planets and life Hmmm...

The Big Bang theory is an objective, rational proven mathematical theory. There is no proof for God and the only thing required is faith/blind belief.

God is not necessary for science!!!! Science is the antidote for religion. It is the 'candle in the dark' to steal Carl Sagan's phrase.

For a scientist who devotes his life to the study of the program (laws of nature) to deny the existance of that same program is absurd.

This makes no sense! God is not the same as science! Science encourages us to go out and explore the natural world and investigate how it actually works. Religion asks us to stay in the dark and believe in some kind of unprovable sky-fairy... The two are diametric opposites!

a lot of ignorant scientists and I guess they make a living arguing with each other and generally talking nonsense.

I would definitely not call some of the scientists at the forefront of this argument (such as Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins) ignorant! Neither would I call a great deal of preachers ignorant. However it really scares me that creationism is being taught as an alternative to evolution...