Dear Friends,

As I anticipate our Annual Meeting this morning and all that we have been called to be and do this past year, I have reflected upon the timeliness of the gospel story we are given for the day. It is Matthew’s version of the calling of Jesus’ first disciples, in which he tells them to “come, follow me.” Then he says to them, “I will make you fishers of people.”

For years, each time I heard this story, I imagined the process of “fishing for people” in very individualistic terms, the same way I thought about catching a fish with a hook and bait. But as I learned more about the practice of fishing at the time of Jesus, with nets, not fishing rods, my imagination has changed. Now I envision Jesus calling out to the fisherman, busy mending their nets, to cast them out the same way they cast them for fish – not just for individuals, but for a whole network of people. 

The other day I came across a Buddhist myth about net fishing that shed a new light on Jesus’ call to his disciples. The Myth of Indra’s Net, in Buddhist cosmology, tells the story of how Indra spread a great net across the heavens, hung in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions, with a single glittering jewel in each “eye” of the net. And since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. Like stars, they are a beautiful sight to behold. If one jewel is closely looked at, we discover in its polished surface the reflection of all the other jewels in the net. When you tug one strand of the net, all the jewels shake and shine. The great, wild call is to have the courage to see how we’re all caught and woven together, and to tell the story of how it’s always been so.

I hope that we can hold this image in our hearts and in our imaginations as we gather today to celebrate the accomplishments and promises of our own great net of a community. A community of gems that have shaken and shined the light of Christ into my own life, thanks be to God.

In Christ,

Amelie