Walton's Rucksack

I'm not going to lie- I'm really going to miss our annual Christian Anglers weekend Retreat this year. Cancelling it, in the light of all that's going on at the moment and in line with government restrictions was undoubtedly the right and the sensible thing to do, but it'll certainly leave a bit of a hole in my summer.  We all of us sometimes enjoy fishing solo - packing up some lunch, grabbing our tackle and sitting on the banks of  river, lake or canal with only ourselves, the chatter of birds, the glory of nature, and God for company, but there's also something special about fishing in company. It may just be with one particular fishing partner, two or three friends, or (as in our fish-ins and retreats) a whole bunch of angling pals, but memories are often that bit sweeter when they happen to be shared memories. I've been fishing with my two brothers for nearly 40 years now, and with many of my fellow Christian Anglers members for a fair few, too. ...

It's no secret that anglers often have a penchant for camouflage. It's not a recent development, either- even old Izaak Walton was counselling anglers to wear drab clothing to blend in, and he was writing way back in the 17th Century. Whether your preference is for Realtree, army surplus or just drab greens, olives and browns it's advice that most anglers tend to heed. Camouflage helps us to blend in, and thus catch more fish (or at least, that's the theory!) However, in faith terms, our Christian allegiance should never be camouflaged. Our mission isn't to "blend in", but rather to "stand out." Jesus spoke about his followers being those who stand out and shine as lights in the darkness, and challenged his disciples not to "hide their light under a bushel." In Acts 4, we read about two of the disciples (who also happened to be fishermen!) Peter and John being hauled before the Temple Authorities for preaching about Jesus ...

My first fishing trip of this year, made in the company of two other Christian Anglers members, was with specimen perch as the intended target. The specimen perch aspiration was a realistic one, as the pond concerned was one from which all three of us have landed out-sized perch and where, although the fishing is never easy, normally at least one of the party lands a stripey, spiky fish that merits weighing and a quick "grip and grin" for the camera. However, this time round the only perch we caught were miniscule, and the fish we predominantly caught were roach, almost all in the six ounce to three quarters of a pound size range. Now, don't get me wrong, they were handsome fish, silver hued like something from a jeweller's window and good fun to catch, but they weren't what we expected or had ventured to the lake in search of. Reflecting afterwards, I thought about how that fishing trip was, in a sense, a microcosm of life itself. So often what happen...

There are a number of factors that contribute to float fishing being my favourite method to employ while trying to outwit fish. One is the floats themselves, "beautiful in appearance, even more so in disappearance" as one author once put it. I love the aesthetic appeal of a float, particularly as these days I fish exclusively with traditional, handmade patterns - who can resist the iconic shape of a perch bob, or the lustre of a well varnished reed waggler, or the silk whipping on the stem of an avon or quill float? However, while acknowledging all the above, I would suggest that the overriding factor for me is the way that watching the brightly painted tip of a float protruding through the water's surface film massively accentuates the anticipation of a bite. Advent is a time of heightened anticipation. In its immediate context, the anticipation that accompanies the countdown to Christmas, but the broader and bigger context of Advent is the anticipation of ...

I'm not going to lie: I've done my fair share of blanking. Like everyone, I'd rather catch, but I can cope with a day of dry nets, and there's still pleasure to be had in the experience.  In fact, I've probably learnt almost as much from blanking as I have from catching. The "thinking angler" reflects on why he or she hasn't caught, what might have been done better, would a change of swims have worked, a different rig, an alternative approach to feeding ...?  I suspect that prayer is rather similar. We sometimes talk about "unanswered prayer" but the fact is there's no such thing. There's always an answer: sometimes "yes", sometimes "no", sometimes "not yet." That prayer has the power to change things is something of which Scripture is certain, but when prayer isn't answered in the way we'd hoped  and doesn't change the situation itself, it still has the power to change us . ...

The late Bill Shankly, onetime manager of Liverpool FC, once famously quipped "some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." He was a great man, and a great football manager, but- on this occasion- he was wrong. I love the game, and played it for 20 years, but when all's said and done it is only an inflated sphere being kicked by 22 men who are all trying to get it to fit into a giant "onion bag" 8 feet high and 21 feet wide. It's the same with fishing. I love my fishing even more than I love football, but there are more important things than catching fish. Like family .... and faith. Last Sunday I was preaching in church on a passage from 2 Thessalonians in which the Apostle Paul is writing to a church of new Christians who are being violently persecuted for their faith. His message: "let the up-look transform your outloo...

Last night I saw Mark Knopfler at the Resorts World Arena (formerly NEC) in Birmingham. He's 69 (many in the audience were older) but, in the words of one of his songs, "the boy can play." Still loving what he's doing, and a whole lot better at it than when he was a young kid just starting out. Many of the best fishermen I've known have been "tapping on a bit." I'm certainly a better angler now than I was when I was 13. Although I had all the enthusiasm back then, I was impatient: I'd move swims too quickly, plumb the depth too hurriedly, race to the first available swim. Time and experience have made me if not a good angler certainly a better one. It should be the same in our Christian journey, too. That as time passes, we grow. That our experiences drawn from Bible reading, church, the wisdom of other Christians and - above all- our lived relationship with Jesus should lead to us becoming more effective as followers and disciples. ...