Lessons Learnt on a Fishing Beach

Vocations Sunday this year did not make an awful stir in the parish where I attended Mass but I did dwell on the short reflection in the Thoughts for the Day booklet for a bit about a religious sister and her vocation and her work.

Anglers hope for fish to bite. In her column, Toni Rowland reflects on her experiences of watching fishers on a beach.

More meaningful in a way were experiences I had later. Vocations Sunday was followed immediately by Freedom Day and I wonder how symbolic that could be seen to be.

On Freedom Day I drove down to the KwaZulu-Natal coast for a few days and listened to the radio, to keep me awake but for interest too. I heard Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria speaking to Fr Emil Blaser on Radio Veritas about the 21 years since 1994, how we have been and where we still need to go, especially with transformation along racial lines.

It was a very eloquent young woman who stressed the need for women’s empowerment that got to me.

I don’t have a problem with that in essence, of course, but the context needs to be kept in mind. Empowering a well educated woman to reach greater heights in the corporate world is not the same as empowering a woman who is little more than a slave to her husband or partner, mother-in-law or even her boy children.

It is the effect of women’s empowerment in families that needs greater exploration. But that’s not my theme today.

On the first morning on my trip to the coast I took a walk to a popular fishing beach.

Sometimes when one watches fishermen they seem to be sitting patiently by their rods, waiting hopefully for a bite. But not these ones on that beach. It was a constant motion of throwing out, reeling in, checking the bait, throwing out, reeling in and so on.

They weren’t too close to me but it seemed that, for a change, there was one fisherwoman, keeping up with the guys. Also intriguing was that there was a black man, obviously experienced, who was helping the whites get going. There were some mums pushing prams—but no dads.

Some of the men were showing young boys the art of fishing. Some women were reading a book while waiting for the fishing to be done; maybe waiting for the sardines to cook for breakfast.

So how is all that for a sign of the times, and what lessons for vocations awareness.

Fishing is busy work—it’s not just sitting back and waiting for the fish to bite. There are fewer priests and religious these days, many with sore backs from throwing out and reeling in. Lay people fish too, men and women, very busily, as part of their activities like earning a living and providing for a family.

Fishing is not just a holiday activity, as it is for some. For others it is the work that earns their living.

Jesus told his disciples that they would be fishers of men. Presumably there could have been women among the fishers as well as among the “fished”. But the balance is still not what it should be — and let’s face it, it is clear that differences do matter.

May, with its family theme of “Committed to Life and Parenting”, invites us to nurture those who will come after us to take up the job of fishing—literally and figuratively—not just as a hobby but as a commitment and a way of life (nevertheless one to enjoy).

The International Day Of Families on May 15 has as its theme, “Men In Charge? Equal Rights for Women and Children”.

1. The other lesson I learned on the question of balance is that it is possible to be too brave and try to do too much. I went for a swim in the sea and got dumped, knocked over, half drowned and sprained my ankle. No more walks for me for a bit!

See MARFAM on Facebook or visit www.marfam.org.za.