I dedicate this Painting and Poem to all First Responders.
All people who are Suffering
or Acting to live in Balance with our Climate,
who strive for the good of others
and Future Generations…
Fishers of Men
Fishers of Men go out further than any boat can know.
They sail over the shoals and rocks, where no others dare to go!
They fish with nets of Mercy in seas and oceans drag,
for those who’ve lost their footing and off the decks were dragged.
They troll in lakes of poison, in rivers clogged with slime
to pull aboard the wretched that Sin has rendered blind.
They scoop up the fragile and their kind, that hold fast to the line of flotsam and jetsam
that hope has left behind!
They surf the tides of turmoil and teach no fear of death.
They rise in swells of innocence until clear knowing builds and crests.
Fishers of men, fish for Souls, Souls that lose their way,
those who’ve sunk below the pale,
who in the deep of muck and dark, in the bottom lay.
Fishers of Men are Saviors!
Compassion, Love, and Mercy are how they reach so deep.
Following the Savior they’ve learned “Saving Grace” comes through Faith,
Humility and Penance in Redemption is forgiveness.
It is the Master’s Way, the Truth and the Life.
So as they Fish they teach us the Way to Pray, which is to say,
fish to save, for ALL on Earth are fragile and ALL on Earth need us to Pray,
to Serve, so in our own turn—We may save
and with our Savior stay …
A.Vonn Hartung ©2022
