In the area where we fish in Lake Champlain there is a log
that protrudes from the water just enough to be seen in the evening light, just
enough for us to position our boat so as to aim casts in its general vicinity.
We call it “David’s Log” because it was David, at age twelve or so, who first
suggested fishing around it, and David who has caught many bass there, using an
old-fashioned jitterbug lure that bubbles and slurps so disruptively across the water that it seems more likely to
frighten fish away than to make them want to bite it. But it works, and so we
keep going back to David’s Log, even now that David has turned twenty-one, and rarely
has opportunity to fish around his own log.
The Daily Office reminds me of David’s Log. The seasons
change, but the pattern of psalms, lessons, canticles, and prayers stays pretty
much the same. Our behavior at Morning Prayer is as predictable as an evening
spent fishing on the lake. For the Daily Office we stand, sit, recite verses in
rhythmic unison, and observe extended periods of silence. On the lake we motor
over to the vicinity of David’s log, cast noisy surface lures out onto the
windless water, and hope for a strike. Such ritual behavior always renews our
connection to the lake and to each other, even when no fish is caught. In a
similar way, the Daily Office always renews our connection to the living word
of God, and to our spiritual ancestors, and to every living thing.
Perhaps you are thinking: “now I know why I don’t like going
to church: it’s for the same reason I don’t like fishing. Boring!” If so, I
will not try to disabuse you of your feelings. But I will ask you this: is
there anything in your experience that reminds you of “David’s Log?” Is there a
place, a symbol, a shared memory that connects you to some cherished current
that runs through your life? I hope so, because most people can get by without
bass fishing, and God will love you even if you never once show up at Morning
Prayer Monday-Thursday at 8:30am in St. Paul’s Chapel, but you really need to
have something like David’s Log in your life.
And that is as about as judgmental as I ever get.
Peace be with you,
Jonathan+
