Monday, April 6, 2009

one fish, two fish, new fish, blue fish

community.

My friend has this huge fish tank and one shark in it. A little one. So for his birthday I decided to get him some fish. I went to the pet store and talked to the lady. I wanted cute fish, she seemed confused but showed me some she thought could be considered "cute." She kept telling me I had to get three of all the ones I liked. I thought maybe she was swindling me, you know trying to get me to buy more...Then she explained that the ones I liked were "community fish" which meant they need other fish around them. I gave her a look. She said no, really, these fish need to be in groups of at least three or they get stressed out and then die. She pulled out a chart and showed me how each fish lives etc. The cute likable fish all needed to swim in groups, thus community fish. I was concerned about the shark eating the fish. The petstore lady said that the shark will not mess with community fish...as long as they are in a group. It will only pick off fish that swim alone. The community provides safety as well.

What a lesson! I like to swim alone, but is that what is best for me? No. No man is an island. When we are alone, we can be picked off by the shark (temptation, sin, lust, greed, satan,etc). We all need community to keep us safe, keep our stress levels down and swim with us. Its funny how God keeps reinforcing the specific lessons I need to learn. even in the petstore.

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