I haven’t gotten my canoe in the water and gone out fishing yet this Summer. Maybe this weekend I will. I love being on the water and fishing. Perhaps this is why my favorite resurrection story is in the Gospel of John, chapter 21. In that story, we learn that it had been a rough stretch of days for the disciples after the death of Jesus. They had seen him, felt his presence, and yet didn’t know what to do next. So they go back to what they know best. They go back to fishing. This rag tag group of guys go home and get in their small boats and push out into the sea of Galilee while it is still dark.
While they are out fishing the disciples see someone on the beach. It’s hard to tell who it is for the sun is just starting to rise. They row closer. Yikes, it is Jesus. Living love has found them again in the morning light. Jesus calls out to them, “Have you caught any fish?” Nope. Then he tells them to put out their nets on the other side of their boat. Try again. They do and their boat is filled to overflowing with fish.
Jesus then invites them to come ashore and have some breakfast. He has cooked them a meal at the break of the day. Grilled fish over a fire. Bread and fish broken and shared. And with this the disciples are filled belly and soul and can carry on. The community of radical love tastes resurrection hope and it is enough to go forward.
It always is around tables, in the breaking of bread, in the eating together that we become companions. The word companion literally means ones who break bread together. This week I have been thinking a lot about another man who loved to fish and to cook, Dick Eschbach. He had a lot of fishing buddies and even more companions.
Dick was the primary cook for annual fishing trips with a group of guys and he loved to cook for his three girls as they were growing up. Dick was especially good with eggs and breakfast. He made something he called the McEschbachs. Dick would often sneak a little spam into them. He also loved to grill and even had a branding iron with his initials RLE to imprint his steaks and burgers with. There is really something tasty about cooking over an open fire. Maybe that is why Jesus had a fish fry in the early morning with those he loved. I imagine the disciples could smell and taste the love Jesus had for them.
I was able to spend time with Dick in the days before his death from cancer. One afternoon I was sitting at the hospice house with he and his daughter Cara. She shared with me how the Rice Lake Volunteer Fire Department had showed up that morning at their home and had escorted Dick to Solvay, the hospice house. Dick had been a volunteer fire fighter for over 25 years. I quietly said to Dick, “How cool that they came with the firetrucks to bring you here.” I will always remember what Dick said next, “Yep, you go out on the love you brought in.”
Dick’s ashes were scattered in a secret fishing hole, the best fishing spot on the lake where their family cabin is. How appropriate it is that his family thought of this, for Dick loved to fish and had a deep, deep faith. He trusted the one who told the disciples to try the other side of the boat. There is always more, love to taste and share as we make our way to the other shore.
Comments are closed.