Why do we have an innate need to "get away from it all" and drive for hours if necessary, to find a secluded spot, along a pristine, winding river, where people are absent, and big trout are in abundance?
I'd dare say it's because it was never our Creators' intent that we multi-task ourselves into an early grave, from over-work, over-stress, and over-indulgence.
A man was made to work. "If you won't work, you won't eat." That's simple enough.
But we've taken it way too far.
We've sold our souls on the altar of self-idolatry. Career and success seem to come before all else. There are many men's wives who have become job widows. Your children don't recognize you anymore. You look in the mirror each morning, wondering, "who is that guy?" You never have any time for friends.
Your entire identity as a man is all self-centered on what you do for work.
It's all about you.
It's all about you.
Is that really the legacy you want to leave behind?
In the classic movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, is left a book from his guardian angel, Clarence, with the personal inscription:
"Dear George, remember, no man is a failure who has friends."
I can count on one hand, the number of truly close friends I've had (and still have) in my lifetime. Genuine friends. A friend who would literally lay down his life for you, or your family, if it came right down to it. And I will be eternally grateful for each of these men who I call "Friend.
The image of these soldiers—a Band of Brothers—carrying their battle-wounded friend to safety, deeply stirs my heart of what it truly means to have a friend, and to be a friend.
A true friend is a man who will sit by your bedside when you are in the hospital dying of cancer. He is the friend who will one day help carry your coffin and speak at your funeral service of what your friendship meant to him. He is the friend who fills your car up with gas when you are unemployed and flat broke. He is the friend who risks your anger when he stops by your house to see how you're doing, when you don't feel like talking to anyone. He is the friend who has earned the right through relationship, to tell it to you like it is, and speak the truth to you in love. He is the friend who has your back when you are under attack from an unseen enemy. He is the friend who would literally take a bullet for you.
He is the "friend who sticks closer than a brother."
A true friend is a man who will sit by your bedside when you are in the hospital dying of cancer. He is the friend who will one day help carry your coffin and speak at your funeral service of what your friendship meant to him. He is the friend who fills your car up with gas when you are unemployed and flat broke. He is the friend who risks your anger when he stops by your house to see how you're doing, when you don't feel like talking to anyone. He is the friend who has earned the right through relationship, to tell it to you like it is, and speak the truth to you in love. He is the friend who has your back when you are under attack from an unseen enemy. He is the friend who would literally take a bullet for you.
He is the "friend who sticks closer than a brother."
For me, going fishing is much more than going out to sore mouth a bunch of big trout. It's an opportunity to fellowship with a true friend, and connect on a deeper level than just seeing who can catch the most or biggest fish. My friend Craig calls it, "Filling up his spiritual tank."
Life in the concrete jungle can drain a man's body and soul. It saps you of your strength and leaves you exhausted and spent.
Time to get back to the River of Life.
I like the serenity of standing waist-deep in a pristine river because the constant flow of cool, refreshing water can take away all distractions and the memory of what went wrong at work yesterday. Sitting along a shady river bank enjoying a sandwich, talking to a good friend about the deeper, spiritual things of life, is far more important to me than what's going on in Washington D.C. Who is going to the Super Bowl this year is the furthest thing from my mind. I could care less.
How my friend is doing in his life—how I can encourage him in his marriage and with his struggling relationship with his kids—is far more valuable than looking for ways to catch more fish today.
The River of Life is about people and relationships. It's about putting someone else's needs ahead of your own. It's about listening to people from the heart—with the intent to understand them—instead of just waiting for your turn to talk.
When I have stepped into the next life and have left this present mortal coil, what I will be remembered for is how I treated people, not how good of a fly fisherman I was. How much of myself I invested in the lives of others is what will be remembered, not how much I invested in the Stock Market. What kind of husband, father and friend I was is what will be remembered most.
No one ever lies on his death bed and laments, "If only I had spent more time at the office."
One of my favorite sayings is,
"There is no greater love than this—that a man would lay down his life for his friends."
Water with no outflow grows stagnant, and is a lifeless, useless pond.
The River of Life continually flows from the Spirit, through the heart, and is meant to flow outward and bless and refresh others...
—At The End of My Line.
