"When they had done this they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break." Luke 5:6
As I listened to the story of John Damascene today I wondered how this 17 year old boy's life could ever be different. He never knew his dad and his mother died when he was eight. Since then he has lived with an uncle who abused him until the uncle died. Then John worked every day to try and feed himself and his two sisters Ruth and Jan.
When John joined up with a working group of other orphans through Zoe Ministry he was given training in farming in order to cultivate a small plot of land that his family owned, and he was given some rabbits to begin a small business selling them to make money to support his family. He was so hungry that he missed meetings with his working group to cultivate his land and all but one of his rabbits died. John continued collecting grass for a neighbor's cow in order to get a little food to eat for himself and his sisters.
How could John Damascene imagine a different future than the one he was currently living?
It is a question many have asked about their own circumstances. The disciples who had fished all night and caught nothing couldn't imagine going back out in the same waters and catching fish. But Jesus apparently could imagine it for them. Jesus said, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."
They did this without much expectation and were surprised by hope!
We share the question with John Damascene and the disciples. How can we imagine a future other than the one we are currently living?
Maybe we aren't worried about when our next meal will come from, but maybe we are worried about what life will be like after a loved one dies.
Maybe we wonder if we will ever know anything other than sadness after our divorce.
Maybe we wonder if our world will ever know a time without war.
Maybe we wonder what life will be like after foreclosure, bankruptcy, oil spills, cancer, hurricanes, economic crisis and job loss.
Is God at all a part of that future for you? If you want to have the capacity to imagine a different future from the reality you are currently living then God must be involved.
After hearing John Damascene's story someone asked, "Is there anything that Zoe Ministry can do for him?"
The answer began as 25 other orphans in John's working group showed up and joined him that day weeding his garden and helping him gather grass for his neighbor's cow as a show of support and hope that a different future wasn't all that far away.
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