"Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
So begins and ends the eighth Psalm. King David surely had a sense of God's grandeur and might, and so proclaims those excellencies repeatedly throughout God's own devotional handbook, the book of Psalms. David not only sensed the Lord's mighty wonder but saw its evidence manifested everywhere, from God's providential care in his daily life to the beauty and mystery of the creation. One gets the feeling that David just couldn't help talking about the Lord, for he was ever mindful of His divine presence. This is a common theme in the Scriptures- that the heavens declare the glory of God- therefore humans are "without excuse" (Psalm 19, Romans 1). In other words, we ought to see Him through the things that are made. God is so evident in the creation that the Scriptures boldly deride as fools those who fail to recognize Him.
If those who fail to see God in the creation are fools, then surely those who fly fish and fail to see God are the greatest fools of all (my wife would certainly argue that all fly fishers are fools, but for totally different reasons!). Fly fishing practically shouts of the glory of the Almighty. The melody of a tumbling brook, the poetry of the well- made cast, the colors of a native trout (or a smallmouth bass or a bright sunfish) all attest to us that the Lord is indeed majestic in all the earth. Moreover, they testify that He shares this glory with us, we who are but frail creatures of dust. They tell us that He is gracious and merciful. I- along with David- must wonder: what is man that He is mindful of us (Psalm 8:4)? Yet, the fact remains that God has definitely been mindful of us from eternity, and has set many memorials of Himself firmly into the dust of this earth so we would be mindful of Him. Of these many memorials Christ is, of course, first and foremost. However, those smaller graces of our Father are given to point us to Jesus, so that by remembering Him as the greatest Gift we may remember the One who is Giver of all.
The one who seeks this most majestic and holy God must seek Him in humility."God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble," Solomon, James, and Peter all speak these words to us verbatim. To my knowledge, none of these men were fly fishers. If they had been their words would have rung all the more true. While the image some fly fishers project is one of putting on airs, all true fly fishers know there is simply no room for arrogance when one takes the long rod in hand. Show me a fly fisherman who hasn't been humbled by the experience and you've shown me someone who hasn't really fly fished. The water will humble you by its flowing beauty or roaring power (even by reaching out and taking you on an involuntary swim!). The trees will humble you by grabbing your back cast just at its full extension (yes, trees definitely grab fly lines and fishing lines of all kinds). The fish will most certainly humble you. They will refuse the best tied fly on the perfect drift after the perfect cast to the perfect spot. They will humble you with their sheer beauty and power, or size and speed, or an incredible head-shaking leap. Even success will humble you. I can only thank God when I'm holding a five-pound steelhead landed on a 4x tippet. I know it surely must have been His grace that allowed such an experience because it certainly wasn't my ability! What blessings we behold when God gives us such graces!
In light of the majesty and grace of God, as well as the personal humility we experience, it seems only natural that we should find fly fishing to be a time of communion with our Lord. Paul encourages us to pray continually and to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). This tells me that I should pray when I'm at home, at work or at play. I should learn to pray when I'm driving at rush hour (with eyes open, of course) or standing upon a mountaintop. I should pray when I'm sad, when I'm happy and when I'm angry. In short, prayer is not to be confined only to church, or meal and devotional times, because my life is supposed to be a walking, talking, breathing, devotional. It must be devoted to Him no matter what I am doing. He knows and owns both my rising up and my lying down, and all that happens in between.
So my fly fishing is a time for prayer and is- in a sense- a prayer itself. It is a prayer because through God's creation I see His glory and praise Him for it. Fly fishing is a prayer because it is one of His many mercies in my life, enjoyed with thanksgiving in my heart. It is a prayer because it fills me with hope, beauty, and a deeper sense of His presence. Fly fishing is a prayer because it genuinely brings me closer to Him. It is a prayer because by it I am once again brought down to my knees before the LORD (YWHW- my maker, the only One who is self-existent) who is undeniably my Lord (Adon- my sovereign ruler) and, so, with David I joyfully proclaim that His name is indeed majestic in all the earth!
Pastor Jeff Johnson resides in West Virginia. He is a friend, a fellow fly fisherman, and a faithful servant of God.
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�copyright 2000, Pastor Jeff Johnson
�copyright 2000, Perry Fuller
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