First off, I'd just like to say that I love working at my dad's house. I get to be with people whom I love, I get to do activities that allow my mind to wander, I get to rest while working hard, and I've been listening to my Pandora station of The Three Tenors (although currently I'm visiting the Coldplay Station). It's beautiful here. And I get to do a lot of processing...
So today as I was scrubbing paint over spray off of the kickboard in the bathroom with Krud Kutter and a toothbrush, I started thinking about salmon. I have no idea where the thought came from. I wasn't even listening to music to put the idea into my head, but it invited itself nonetheless.
Here's what impresses me about salmon:
~ They are born in freshwater, live in saltwater, and then return to the freshwater to spawn.
~ When spawning, they return to the same place that they were hatched - sometimes/often swimming upstream against currents of force to get to the location.
~ They generally die within a few days of spawning.
These fish are amazing.
The last fact has always caught my attention. While my initial response may be some cynical joke along the lines of, "and that's why we say 'no' to kids," I realized something kind of beautiful today. Scriptures say that it's a picture of Christ.
The whole purpose of these fishes' lives is to give life. And while I can't exactly say that these fish are motivated by love, I cannot help but notice that collectively, an individual dies so that others may live. This isn't a passive decision. This isn't just bad luck - a "well, you got picked in the lottery, so sucks to be you" kind of sacrifice. It's active - something brought about by the fish's actions to bring about life.
That's really neat.
So, if the whole purpose of a fish's life is as such (evidenced by what they die for), then how much more amazing does that make the actions of Christ?
While fish may act out of instinct, that beautiful component of love is central to the divine love story found in the cross.
1 comment:
I really resonate with this! When you identified the Christlikeness of the salmon (I have to laugh when I type that)... it made perfect sense. I was totally tracking with you! I just watched Harry Potter and the prevalent theme was self-sacrificial love triumphing over all else; it came to the part about how Harry's life was saved because his mother sacrificed her life to protect his. Her magic was more powerful because of the sacrificial nature of it; Voldemort couldn't touch him because her love was that butt-kicking, conquerin' kind of love. Kind of like Aslan's knowledge of the Deep Magic. Greater love hath no man, or salmon, than this. ;) Good things, Beanie Bean. Good things.
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