So I’m watching the reality show “Deadliest Catch.” I’m not much of a fisherman. I fished for years until I discovered that you could BUY fish. But I’m really drawn in by this show. I’ve watched them pull up those crab pots over and over again, and still I am excited each time one is drawn on board. One of the captains, Phil Harris, died this last season while the series was being filmed. He apparently, by his own admission lived a fairly rough life. Each crab season, he was on his boat for much of the year while his kids were growing up without him at home. His life was spent focusing on the fishing, the equipment and the current sea conditions. That was the goal and reason for his existence. During his last few days of life he called his sons in to talk to them. He didn’t mention the crabs, the boat or the weather. Rather he apologized to them for not being the father he should have been. In his broken speech due to a stroke, he repeatedly told them that he loved them. You could sense the guilt that he carried for not being what he should have been to his family. Some things you can just never correct. We seem to rush our whole lives looking for some spectacular goal to reach. We push and sacrifice and in the end, we missed the whole purpose. I wept a little at the end of the show. I wept for Captain Phil. I wept for his sons. I wept for all of us who have been blinded to our calling and our responsibility and our joy of life. The so-called “brass ring” is not a tiny object out there in the future, but it surrounds us all of our lives. It’s an everyday experience that builds on itself to make life a wondrous journey. Jesus said, “I came to give you life and give it to the full”. What a great promise. Enjoy life to the full everyday. It’s your reality as a child of God!