In life, dreams, relationships – as in fishing – set the hook
“Set the hook!” “Set the hook!”
“Wait, now wait, wait a minute. Maybe he will bite again.”
I had jerked the pole up at the nibble I felt on my fishing line, and in a panic I had let it down again. According to my husband and expert fisherman brother-in-law, now I had probably given the line too much slack and lost the tension I had on the hook. The fish got away.
This steelhead was the second to get away from me this weekend. The first one was huge, really huge. It was five times the fish I had seen others reel in. It had clamped down on my line, and as I reeled, it darted right and left and launched out of the water then lurched down again.
My husband had the net ready as the fish neared the boat. Then in a frenzied moment it darted toward our anchor line. I stumbled sideways with the force of the moment toward the anchor line, and lost my edge of control. The fish got tangled in the anchor line, and my trophy steelhead slipped away.
Oh, the regret of things we let slip away from our lives.
When my brother-in-law shouted “set the hook, set the hook,” what he was saying to me was that I should have to gotten the fish so hooked that it could not wiggle off, even in the heat of the moment, even when the situation became disorienting.
The Bible admonishes readers to “set your heart” to do its commands (Deuteronomy 32:46), to “set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19) and to “set your heart on the right path” (Proverbs 23:19).
To “set” our hearts we firmly and with deliberate purpose fix our minds and affections on a decided path and goal. Sometimes situations in life can get disorienting and confusing. Sometimes the boat may rock or the burning summer heat may scorch. Goals and dreams may seem too far to reel in.
But when our determination is set like a hook, not the heat, nor the rain, nor the storms that rock the boat will deter us from our goal in life.
Oh, the regret of dreams that have slipped away, of friendships gone, of relationships we could have saved. Oh, the lives we could have changed, the people we could have helped. Oh, the life we could have lived – the one that got away.
I recently attended my uncle’s memorial service. His life story unfolded as person after person shared memories of his talent and potential.
He went to Harvard, but only stayed a couple of semesters. He had such talent as an artist, but did not continue. He ran for county commissioner, but gave up the race. He started a deli business, but only lasted a few months. He didn’t want children; he was too busy.
He wanted to do many important things, but he never set his hook into any one of them. At the end of his life my uncle had a lot of fish stories, but they were always about “the one that got away.”
Do not let the important things get away. It is not too late to set your hook, revive that dream, forgive that friend, mend that relationship, help that person.
When it comes my time to move from this world to the next, I do not want to have let the most important things in life have slipped away because I did not “set the hook.”