The apostles were not simple fishermen: The lesson of the miraculous catch

True freedom is when our mind clings to nothing in this world. Photo: UOJ

The future apostles were seasoned fishermen. They knew well that their extraordinary catch was no mere luck or coincidence – it was a supernatural event that defied the normal order of things. Yet what is even more astonishing is that instead of rejoicing in their bounty and hurrying home with it, they left everything and followed the One who had wrought this miracle. It is as if a man who won a vast fortune in the lottery were to refuse his prize in order to find the one who told him the winning numbers.

When we say that the apostles were “simple fishermen,” we are mistaken. They were not as simple as they appear.

These men did not live by fish alone. In their souls there burned a thirst for something far greater than a successful catch. Even as fishermen, they had learned to steer the ship of their souls without leaks. Leaks are our attachments. They did not look back at the rich haul, nor think of their costly nets, nor consult their families before following Christ. Few people are capable of such a step. For that, one needs complete trust and surrender to God.

One must clearly understand that everything in God is perfect, and He makes no mistakes.

The person who has entrusted the burden of his life to God no longer worries or fears. Only the one who has attained dispassion can live in this way. No change or circumstance can disturb such a soul’s inner peace. All virtues are but a beautiful casing for the precious jewel within – the jewel of dispassion and love.

How to acquire dispassion

To gain dispassion, we need the grace of discernment, which teaches us to distinguish our true self – the spirit – from the egocentric “old man” that feeds upon us. Ask yourself: “Who is angry? Who is offended? Who is irritated?” These questions expose our ego before the calm gaze of the spirit. Usually, our old man hides beneath restless thoughts; sometimes we feel him as a suffocating weight in the physical heart.

When temptations surround us, we must focus on remaining dispassionate and silent.

That is the best way to overcome all sorrows that come our way. Egoism is best destroyed through dispassion and prayer. Our spirit is called to eternal life, while egoism seeks to indulge in the fleeting one. The spirit bears direct knowledge – wordless and thoughtless. God speaks to man through grace, directly to his spirit, without words. The will of God comes as immediate understanding, without reasoning. All this unfolds within our spiritual heart.

“Virtue is not a pear – you cannot eat it right away,” said St. Ambrose of Optina. One does not become dispassionate instantly. One must first learn dispassion in small things – to accept calmly the little irritations that used to unsettle us. Then move on to greater ones. And if we reach dispassion by the time of death – unafraid of illness or life’s calamities – then we become truly free from every attachment.

Letting go of the earthly to find the divine

Until a person receives grace from above, all his ideas about God and faith are but his own opinions, even if he is a professor of theology. At times, bookish learning becomes the very cause of lost faith. Peace comes to the one who realizes that everything in life is sanctified by the wise goodness of the Creator.

We need not fuss or fear, for God prepared everything we need even before we were born.

Christ has already saved us. And if we do not feel it, it means we are clinging to something earthly – holding on to what deprives us of freedom. All we need is to unclench our hands and let go of that which binds us. True freedom is when our mind clings to nothing in this world, and the heart belongs wholly to Christ.

For in God there is such depth of humility that even angels cannot comprehend it. In Him there is such abundance of grace that no heart can stand before it. Begin your standing before God not with the morning prayer, but the moment you awaken.

Each morning is like the creation of the world.

A new day begins, and you enter it as if for the first time. Let that day, until evening, be as your whole life. And let the night’s sleep be like a small death, when the soul departs this world for a while.

Our sinful mind shows us waking dreams, multiplying false impressions and suspicions – imagining what others think of us, completing what is not there. Thus the devil implants his ideas, which later erupt into wars, revolutions, or domestic quarrels and conflicts. In our heads works a whole factory of idle thoughts that quickly corrupt the soul.

Think of this:

• If God is love – why not love Him with all your heart, which suffers so much without love?
• If God is joy – why not rejoice with all your soul that He dwells within your spirit?
• If God is happiness – why not become happy right now, understanding that God is the cause of everything best that can ever be in your life – salvation?

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