UNCERTAINTIES WILL REMAIN

DAY 215

Matthew 13:47-48 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.

Whenever fishermen go out to catch fish, they might be able to choose the kind of water they fish in, the depth at which they fish, the type of bait to use, and even the size of net to employ. All these are their attempt to filter the nature of the catch to fit a certain criteria.

However, regardless of all the well thought out decisions made prior, from the very moment a net is cast, the fishermen activates the principle of probabilities and the chances of catching more things than he wishes. He has zero control over the ‘things’- living or not, that find their way into the net. All they have control over is the sorting out when the net is hauled in.

Attempting to strictly control what finds it’s way into a fishing net that has been cast will be an ideal example of wasted energy. In our lives, there are very many things we have no control or influence over. It’s therefore no use fretting over those things. The serenity prayer comes to mind:

“‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”

The serenity prayer

That is the mentality required to live perpetually in peace, not overwhelmed by the many uncertainties of life.

#sly