Happy for Others’ Blessings

May 25, 2025

What would make you happy? Winning or inheriting a million dollars? A big house, fancy boat, a horse-racing thoroughbred, a fast car? The list could go on, and each of us would probably answer the question differently. Yesterday (Saturday), my brother and I drove to Kentucky Lake and went fishing. We have been fishing together since our grandparents started taking us with them when we were both knee-high to a small gnat. We had a great time. I caught two of the biggest catfish I've ever caught and broke off three more big fish. John, my brother, caught four catfish and broke off a couple himself. We had never broken off that many fish before, and we had never caught or broken off that many big catfish on the same fishing trip, from the same fishing hole before either. We hadn’t fished that particular hole in several years, and needless to say, Lord willing, we will hit that same hole again real soon! To say we were happy would be a huge understatement. But a funny thing happened yesterday. When we got to our fishing spot, an Asian man was already fishing there. He had only caught one fish, a drum (which, to most fishermen, at least freshwater fishermen, isn’t much of a catch). He was very friendly and introduced himself to us as Jeff. At least I think it was Jeff. After all, he had a pretty strong accent, and my ears aren’t as young as they used to be. Anyway, John and I set up down the river next to him, and lo and behold, we started catching catfish. Several catfish. Several big catfish. Jeff’s eyes were as big as saucers. He got so excited. “Those are huge,” he said breathlessly as he took pictures of every fish we caught. Oh, by the way, he took pictures of our fish on his phone! He was more excited about our fish than we were. I have never seen anyone not catching fish be so happy about other people catching fish. The highlight of the day came when Jeff finally hooked into a big catfish himself. He yelled in his broken English, John…come quick…bring net!! I thought John was going to fall into the lake trying to get the landing net to him. Here’s the point. Have we gotten so used to being blessed that we have lost a sense of joy and wonder all around us in the simple things? Not only did John and I have a terrific day yesterday. Jeff had a pretty good day, too, and John and I made a new friend. All in all, the day was very satisfying. As I was driving home, I thought of the times when John and I were younger and weren’t catching too many fish. We would often walk by an old, grizzled fisherman who had caught a stringer full of fish. More often than not, as John and I would watch him fish, the old man would give us a fishing lesson until, before too long, John and I were catching fish, too. It dawned on me that John and I are now the grizzled, old fishermen, and now, we too, were passing down some of what we learned to others. Not everything we learned, mind you, because after all, you don’t want the student catching more fish than the teacher! The moral of all this rambling is this. When you are pursuing happiness, you just might find it’s closer than you think.

Be blessed and go be a blessing . . . Bro Andy