✌🏼 The Parable of the Fishless Fisherman

How Not To Catch Fish While Really Trying

Once, there was a man whose hero was the most successful fisherman in history. The man studied his hero’s life, learned his famous sayings, and had many bumper stickers and t-shirts about the hero. The man joined a club where other fans of the hero would get together and talk about how their hero caught fish. Sometimes they would get emotional and cry because there were so many fish that needed catching, but so few fish were being caught.

The man had such a deep concern for fish and love of his fisherman hero that he was put in charge of the club’s fishing committee. This committee studied in depth the type of fish the hero caught, the types of bait that were used, and even the size of the lakes that the hero had the most success with. They drew up charts and how-to guides and set up training classes for their club members.

However, some of the club members began to think that some of the other club members weren’t really serious about fishing. Some showed up to the training classes without their fishing hats. Others seemed to be drifting off into discussions about fly fishing, which the hero had never specifically used as bait.

Soon the club was divided into several clubs. Each had its own preference about what was appropriate attire for a fisherman to wear and developed complex terminology to distinguish their favorite understandings of how the hero fished. The man tried each new club and became more and more confused. They all had good points. They all talked about fishing.

In frustration, the man stopped going to a club at all. He decided that fishing was just too complicated for him.

On the way home he passed a young boy who had a fishing pole and a string of freshly caught fish. He excitedly asked the boy what fishing club he was a part of. The boy looked confused. Where was his fishing hat? The boy didn’t have one. What chart and guide did he use? The boy just held up the can of worms he had dug up that morning.

In frustration, the man exclaimed, “But how did you catch all these fish?”

“Listen, mister. I heard about this hero who caught fish. So I grabbed a pole and went down to the lake where the fish are." The man was stunned. It just couldn’t be that simple or everyone would do it.

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Once there was a man whose Hero was the most successful Fisher of men in history…