The strange man by the lake

Centuries ago………… far ago………

Lake Genneserat, a beautiful big blue lake - it is also known as Sea of Galilee - situated east of Galilee. It was a beautiful golden dawn on its shore. The golden rays from the east had been painting the lake shore and its ripples gilt. Two empty boats had been dancing over the baby ripples as per the rhythm set by the same. The boats had been enjoying the light weighted state much, swaying left and right and moving up and down according to ripple-rhythm. Boats were not far away from the lake shore. Both of them had so been tethered to each stake driven on the sandy bank that their freedom for dance had been clipped. The head geared and cloaked men had swarmed along the bank. Greybeard of old men looked golden. That entire bank and inhabitants on that day had been tinted golden.

A tall man had been talking to a crowd who had gathered on the lake shore, in sand, which had been painted golden.The man had been walking to and fro along the water edge.Gilt baby ripples had been licking smoothly his feet to make it clean. Each and every golden ripple had been competing to lick and wash his feet. The crowd on Genneserat shore is nothing new. The free Galileans – nonslave people – usually crowded there as the best place for selling their processed goods and to buy fish for their bread. Over and above most of the folks who had perched on Genneserat shore were fishermen and they all would come to shore every day, in early mornings, in connection with their fishermen jobs. Genneserat shore was the place where the greatest number of free working men had been gathering in Galilee. The sea resources were common and all those who had been working with boat and net in lakes and sea were free men, as the sea and its resources could not have been divided to assign slaves over the division of sea-resource to protect them. So fishermen in Galilee were enough lucky to be free men. That stranger, the tall man, had been speaking to those free men on the shore in that fresh misty morning.

The crowd on the shore had been looking to the distance in the lake to see boats, which had gone fishing in the previous night, being rowed ashore back burdened with the load. The two boats already perched the shore had come light weighted. From the distance itself, the crowd had ascertained, seeing the full mounted hull above the water and its joyful dance over the waves swaying left and right, that the boatmen were rowing ashore empty. Immediately their face had faded. Seeing their despair, the man began to ask questions.

“Why are you so unhappy?” he enquired.

People answered,” the boats are empty, no fishes.”

He again inquired, “When you have bread and fishes, you are happy; aren’t you?”

They replied, “Of course, we are.”

“Why the inverse doesn’t happen in your life?” he shot another question.

“Sorry, what do you mean?” the crowd reacted.

“If your bread and fishes make you happy, the opposite should also be true; your happiness should bring your bread and fish; why don’t you try that?” he asked.

“Your teaching is amazing. Is it true what you said? “, Crowd responded and their swarming sound subsided in the lake of silence. Their eyes had been widening like blooming blue shell flowers in the morning because of curiosity, nostrils widened. Many had been taking their tunic from their shoulders to wrap themselves well again to provide a good and tight shield against morning cold. They had been getting ready to aspire something new that they had never before in their life. The area of the swarm had been widening so that he couldn’t have talked facing the whole people standing on that water edge.

So the man looked around to see the boatmen who had moored their boat at the bank chained their freedom to stakes. They had been washing their nets nearby in the lake. They had also been discouraged as they didn’t have a catch. They had completely been swallowed by total despair. In their mind, they had been maledicting the net and boat. They had been trying to find some inauspiciousness with their boats and nets. What else the helpless men could have done in such unsuccessful situations? Their heart and mind had not been there in washing their nets. Those had been taken away by the talk of ‘The strange Man by the lake’. The man clapped his hands looking in the direction of net- washing men. The men with nets turned to the direction of clapping. Seeing the men responding to his clapping by their glances, he signaled them to come near. Then, after he got into one of those boats, told them to untie and move a little that boat to the water. It was Simon, the boatman, who moved that boat to the water. It was his boat.

Then everyone’s appearance had been presented before his clear vision. And everyone could get a clear vision of his appearance. Lake Surface had been fuming like a big cup of hot morning tea as it was in the early morning. Sitting in the boat he continued his talk.

He continued asking, “Your happiness should fetch you your bread and fish, but why bread and fish fetch you happiness?”

The crowd answered, “When we have it and quench our hungry and thirst, we feel happiness.”

He questioned their idea, “Your bread and fish go to your stomach. Is it from your stomach happiness coming? You claim you are free men but I don’t think so and I have a reasonable doubt.”

The curious crowd asked, “What is that your doubt. We are free men, not slaves.”

The man affirmed, “No, you are slaves. But my doubt is that whether you are the slaves of your stomachs or the slaves of your bread and fish?”

Crowed amazed in the reasoning power of the man and asked, “How that is without loving bread and fish and without considering stomach, men can live?”

“Your joy, happiness and love springs from your heart and mind. Your heart and mind are the springs from which these emotions flowing out not from your stomach or from your bread and fish. Whenever these springs are open and function properly these pure constructive qualities well up and flow out and you will be able to float in it. And you will enjoy life, will be very happy and love one another unconditionally. You will help one another; your happiness, joy, and love fetch what you needed in your life”. The man explained.

“That’s amazing, but do you think that we are short of fish today because of our heart and mind are dry?” The men crowded enquired. Their eyes glared in the rays of morning sun. Curiosity had been blooming on their face.

“No, as long as you have a throbbing heart and a thinking mind those won’t dry up but well up with emotions and thoughts. If it is not with happiness, joy, and love then it will be with worry, envy, and hatred. If it is so as the latter, you are floating and rowing in the lake of hatred, worry, jealousy and envy. There everything repels one another and none can come together thereby nothing can be achieved. “, He explained. Simon had been standing on the other end of the boat with an oar in his hand.

“Why then we are rowing in such a lake of repellency? “, One of the eager men asked.

“As I mentioned, you are slaves, not free men. You are slaves of many things; your emotions are in the chain. They are not controlled by you. Something else, other than you, outside you, decides your happiness, joy, and love. Are you not slaves then?” He asked the crowd. They stood motionless without an answer. The boat had been dancing with two men at two ends, like performing a new item in dance. The wet oar in the hand of Simon dazzled in morning rays.

“Then what about those who are under the yoke and in the stable of landlords? Are they free?” Someone among the crowd shot a hot question.

“No, they are not slaves but worse than that, they are the crops like the fishes of a lake, cattle in the field or wheat and maze in farms; they are among them. But if you have love that not controlled by your stomach or bread and fish, you should love them freely to free them. They are among the harvest in the field, but you should be the workers to save them. For that, you should first be free, free from hatred of such people and become fishers of them, fishers of men. ” He exhorted. The hearts of the crowd melted, they stood there still.

Turning to Simon he told him to row his boat to deep to cast net. Simon answered,” Master we have worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

The oar in hands of Simon moved back fast and forcefully breaking water with splashing sounds, a folk song had been gently flowing from the mouth of Simon, and he was in a full bloomed happy mood. Generating new waves, boat leaped forward with the rhythm of rowing and singing. Within moments they reached deep, Simon cast net. The man asked Simon to pull out the net. He strained hard to pull it out of the water, when it came above the water, full of wriggling silver pieces with fins. A single boat couldn’t have taken the total catch. Simon held his hand in the air and signaled his partner to come with his boat. They had to fill both the boats to empty the casted net. They began to row back to the bank; boats slowly began to move with strain.

Boats reached and so heavily kissed the water edge that their noses hid in the sand.

The man got down from the boat and asked the crowd,” Do you believe now that our happiness, joy, and love bring home what we needed? If you are not happy, joyful and loving these two boats of fish and another two boats of bread will not fill you. Otherwise four loaves and five fishes enough to satisfy you”

Simon kneeled down before the man and said,”Lord I am a sinner. My heart and mind nested with worry, envy, hatred and revenge. Please away from me.”

The man said, “Don’t worry, get up and give up them. Then you can be a fisher of men.”

The crowd asked one another, “Who is this man?”

Some answered, “Certainly, ‘Son of God’!”