Catch and Release (10/7/2023)

Last evening, I was visiting with one of my favorite couples at the local bistro before dinner. Margaret shared that Tom was going crayfishing today. Tom chimed in that he always does “catch and release,” even when he’s fishing in our city’s lake. He shared that over the years he must have caught and released thousands of fish. As I walked back to my table, that phrase “catch and release” grabbed me and it hasn’t let me go, not even now.

I’ll tell you why. The LORD catches me all the time. The LORD acts in my life and I know I am in the LORD’s grip, it’s a good grip, it’s a loving grip, and then I’m released. What will I make of my life after that? What will I do with my freedom? Will I use it in meaningful and loving ways?

Oh, the LORD has truly caught me so very many times. When I am in the grip of a beautiful pink and blue sunlit dawn, when I spy a mother lovingly caring for an infant, when I sink not knowing where to turn and suddenly there is crack in my situation filled with light. The LORD is a great “catcher.” And I treasure the moments I know I am resting in the LORD’s hand. But then I am released to “go on.”

This morning as I sat on my porch in the darkness with my cup of coffee and my awareness of the LORD’s loving presence, I shared with the LORD what He already knew (because He is all knowing). I told the LORD that I finally understood thanks to my friend Tom. When the LORD catches me, I grow in my awareness of and love of the LORD, my awe and fear of the LORD. But then the LORD releases me and it’s up to me what I will make of the life I have been given.

I don’t know that much about fish, if they have a memory or reasoning power. I don’t know if they can grasp that they have been given a great gift in their release. But I have a memory. I can reason. These are gifts from my LORD, and last evening over fish stories, I realized just how many times the LORD has caught me, held me, loved me, but then let me go. “If you love someone, let them go. If they love you, they will return.” This morning, I told the LORD, “I do love You. Help me to return.”

I pray that our lives involve some “catch and release” moments with the LORD, those moments when we know to our core there is a LORD and we’ve been touched by this loving, present LORD. I pray that our release marks a time of awareness of the LORD’s gift of life and freedom. I pray we are able to choose wisely, choose life in Him, with Him, and through Him.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.