Blessing of the fleet

On Saturday I performed the annual blessing of the Binningup recreational fishing club "fleet". This represents one of those rare times our community actually seeks out a "religious" person. It's a good opportunity to talk about Jesus in a specific, but non-threatening way and, as I see it, to help make the link between the real world and the things that matter to people (like fishing) and the way of Jesus.

This year I focussed on "creation care". Recreational fishermen have just had a new load of changes imposed on them by the powers that be, for the simple reason that our fish stocks are at incredibly low levels.

Most recreational fishermen do the right thing. They realise the importance of looking after what we have if we are going to keep it. What I wanted to point out was that this is also the way God wants it.

Back in Genesis God gave the first humans two clear commands; 1) Procreate (i.e. have sex and kids) and; 2) Manage the created universe on God's behalf.

I assumed most of those gathered (especially given the number of kids running around) weren't having too much trouble with the first point, and so focussed on the second.

At a time when the government is making it harder to catch fish for fun and at the same time is going to build a polluting desalination plant not more than a kilometre from where I was standing on Saturday afternoon talking about caring for the environment, the creation care message seemed particularly relevant.

Even for people who probably don't consider themselves to be terribly spiritual, the act of looking after our environment is a spiritual act. To look after the world is, at least in part, to fulfil something of the role we were created for. I wanted those gathered to consider the point that when they were looking after the world, the were partnering with God.