Monday, February 25, 2002
Monday, February 25, 2002
And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."
However, Bush didn't catch a fish that day . . . or the next day . . . or the next . . . or the next.
While those around him were getting strikes, the President was striking out a fact
reported daily by the media. By the tenth day without even a nibble, a local newspaper began
publishing a "fish watch." Every day the paper ran a drawing of a bluefish inside the
international symbol for no and gave the number of outings the President had gone
without catching a fish. This spurred Bush's staffers into damage control. A White House
press official claimed that although Bush hadn't snared any blues yet, several members of the
presidential fishing party had caught fish "under the President's very careful tutelage." But the
press continued to report his catch of the day: zero. Finally, with only one full day left of his
vacation, a desperate Bush turned to prayer. And it worked. Within an hour after leaving
church, President Bush landed a two-foot, ten-pound bluefish to put an end to his
embarrassing jinx. Reporters and Secret Service agents in boats about 150 yards away began
honking their horns and cheering. It was victory at sea. Paul Bedard, a WASHINGTON TIMES
reporter, said the news was "like the end of a war." When the FIDELITY returned, the mood at
the dock was as wild as Election Night. Barbara Bush thrust her fist high in the air in
celebration. Relatives shouted for joy. Grandchildren kissed him.
May we never give up in fishing for Christ.
(Mark 1.17
NRSV)
In August 1989 then President George Bush took his family to their summer home in
Kennebunkport, Maine, for a nineteen-day summer vacation. No sooner had he arrived than
he hopped into his twenty-eight-foot fishing boat, FIDELITY, confident he'd catch some
bluefish as he had so many other times before. He didn't mind that a flotilla of press boats was
following him to record every moment of his expected angling successes.
Dear Jesus, sometimes I get tired and frustrated, but help me to keep focused on bringing
people to you. Amen.
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