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The ugly things in life...
Have you ever caught a toadfish? It’s an ugly little creature. The back half of it looks like a fish…an ugly fish, but a fish. The front half looks more like a toad…an ugly toad…with teeth. It’s not the kind of fish you hope to catch when you throw your line in. But, alas, I caught my first toadfish recently off the pier down at St. Simmons.
Now, to my shame, I did not want to touch this ugly fish. So, instead of grabbing it and taking the hook out, I danced around like a little girl and tried to shake the fish off my hook. Embarrassed by my less than manly approach to this fish, I decided to cut my losses as quick as possible and send this fish on his way with my hook still in his mouth. I didn’t feel too good about this, but so it goes. Soon afterward, I packed up my fishing gear so as to avoid another such display of my fishing prowess before the crowds that were gathering on the pier to watch the sunset.
After I put my rod away, I saw another man catch one of these toadfish. He was one of those guys who meant business. He had a wagon with a cooler and tackle box in it and multiple rods going at once. He had obviously done this before. And, as he began to try to get the toadfish off of his hook, he never touched the fish! In fact, he seemed to me to dance around like a little girl and try to shake the fish off of the hook. Eventually, he cut his line, saying goodbye to the ugly fish without ever once touching it. Then another man caught one and essentially had the same approach.
I researched this fish when I got home. It seems that it injects venom into any predator that grabs it. Whew! I don’t feel so bad about my little girl dance now. It seems that my approach wasn’t that far off from the pros. Sometimes our instincts to avoid the ugly things in life serve us well.
What’s amazing is that we often dive right into the ugly things in life, not because we want to, but because everyone else is doing it. Somehow, it is the opinions of others we crave, rather than the opinion of God. I am currently reading The Confessions by Saint Augustine. He speaks of the sins of his youth and his desire to fit in with others by being vile. In fact, he says “when I had no indecent acts to admit that could put me on a level with these abandoned youths, I pretended obscenities I had not committed, lest I might be thought less courageous for being more innocent.”
That’s what I wanted to do on the pier, pretend I could handle the ugliness that came in the form of a toadfish so that others would think more of me. But, if I had grabbed this ugliness I would have been injected with venom and suffered. Sounds kind of like life to me. So, here’s my advice: Never grab a toadfish just to fit in!
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