[438 words]
It happened off the coast of California several years ago. Fishing boats, many of them, would work the many miles of shoreline, going far out into the bay and gather in large catches of sardines to take them to the sardine canning factory at Monterey. In the area also were large numbers of pelicans. I’m talking about tens of thousands of them, that would lounge around the factory, eating and enjoying the life of leisure and prosperity. Now, normally, pelicans are good fishermen. They fly along the surface of the water and, with their large mouth; scoop up fish swimming near the top. But, over the years, these pelicans had grown lazy. With the extra fish that the fishing boats and factories would throw back into the bay, all these pelicans needed to do was just stand in the water and eat. Such a lifestyle continued for years in the lives of these pelicans.
Then, something happened. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the Californians felt their coast was the most vulnerable to be attacked next. So, the fishing boats were dry-docked. They didn’t venture into Monterey Bay anymore, gathering sardines. Men were afraid for their very lives. And, the factory eventually closed down.
Now, here’s the surprising part of the story: The spoiled pelicans began to starve, for you see, they had forgotten how to fish. And, they began to die. In fact, thousands of them died. The city became alarmed. How could they save the birds? Someone proposed the idea that maybe other pelicans could teach them how to fish. Other pelicans? Where could they gather other pelicans? On the other side of the continent, off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida, it just so happened that there were thousands of pelicans. When Floridians heard of the plight in California they caught about 150 of their own pelicans and sent them the thousands of miles across the country to teach the California pelicans how to fish. Did they learn? When the dying birds saw their neighbors flying, scooping, and eating; when they were thus shown how to do it themselves, they began to imitate them. Yes, they learned, they learned how to fish. They lived. And the experiment saved literally thousands of California pelicans.
This true story has a moral. Have we not raised up a generation or two among ourselves who have forgotten how to fish? Maybe it is that we have a generation who has not even learned how to fish in the first place.
“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:19).
Larry West
via Laings Church of Christ
Laings, OH