john ashley cooper

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. – Soren Kierkegaard

Ironically … it is by the means of seemingly perfunctory daily rituals and routines that we enhance the personal relationships that nourish and sustain us. ― Kathleen Norris

Solving problems means listening. – Richard Branson

One thing becomes clearer as one gets older and one’s fishing experience increases, and that is the paramount importance of one’s fishing companions. — John Ashley Cooper

We don’t know who we are until we see what can we do. – Martha Grimes

Whatever you can do,
or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it.
— W. H. Murray

A Thirsty Fish (excerpt) — Rumi
I don’t get tired of you. Don’t grow weary
of being compassionate toward me!
All this thirst equipment
must surely be tired of me, the water jar, the water carrier.
I have a thirsty fish in me
that can never find enough of what it’s thirsty for!
Show me the way to the ocean!
Break these half-measures, these small containers …

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Songsabout difference:

• What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life by Ronnie Milsap (soft rock)
• It Makes No Difference Now by Ray Charles (soul / country western cover)
• The Difference Between Us by Tina Turner (rock)
• What Difference Does It Make by the Smiths (rock)
• Different by Michael Tyler (Christian)
• Different by Hayden Summerall (pop)

Some songs for challenging times:

• The Greatest by James Blunt (inspirational pop)
• Joy by For King & Country
• In Dangerous Times performed by local singer & minister Mary Edes
• I Feel Like Going On performed by local singer & minister Mary Edes:

Fish & Fishing Songs:

• Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United (Christian)
• Big Fish by FFE (Gospel)
• I’ll Probably Be Out Fishing by Toby Keith (country):
• Fisherman’s Friend by Port Isaac Fisherman’s Friend (sea chanty / acapella)
• Big-Eyed Fish by Dave Mathews Band (ballad):
• Gone Fishin’ by Bing Crosby & Louie Armstrong (big band)

Questions to consider from John 21 (link: John 21:1-14)

• What is one thing that this pandemic has caused you to see or experience differently? What do you appreciate?
• What do you want to keep from this experience? What do you want to let go or be done with?
• What in your life do you now consider to be abundant, that might once have felt scarce or limited?
• And what do you now wish you had in greater quantity or quality, that you didn’t appreciate before this time?
• What would you wish to give or offer, without limit, if you could?
• What simple rituals or habits create a pattern in your daily life?
• What gives you a sense of purpose?
• What are some comforting practices or routines that you have developed during the pandemic, or in the bigger picture, across the course of your life?

Trying a Different Approach; Attempting Something New

One country … one ideology, one system is not sufficient. It is helpful to have a variety of different approaches … We can then make a joint effort to solve the problems of the whole of humankind. — Dalai Lama

You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things. – Nate Berkus

Do one thing every day that scares you. — Eleanor Roosevelt

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. – T.S. Eliot

I hope that … you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. — Neil Gaiman

Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things. – Theodore Levitt

Try new things everyday. Don’t be afraid of failures. You will not lose anything. But your brain will be packed with experiences. — Akash Ryan Agarwal

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. — Neale Donald Walsch

I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I’m not afraid of starting up, starting over, or even failing for that matter, because the fact that I try new things in itself is a victory. — Lynn Collins

Without experimentation, a willingness to as and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund. – Anthony Bourdain

To live an art-filled life, one must be willing to try new things & accept that things change. – Lee Hammond

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. – Walt Disney

Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. – Jim Rohn

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? – Vincent van Gogh

I won’t know if I like it until I try it, will I? ― Cassandra Clare
 
How do you know, unless you open the door? ― Casey Rislov

Change How You Think About Problems

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert H. Shuller

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin

Every problem is a gift. Without them we wouldn’t grow. – Tony Robbins

It isn’t that they cannot find the solution. It is that they cannot see the problem. – G.K Chesterton

Problems are nothing but wake-up calls for creativity. – Gerhard Gschwandtner

Inside of every problem lies an opportunity. – Robert Kiposaki

There is no problem outside of you that is superior to the power within you. – Bob Proctor

You can increase your problem-solving skills by honing your question-asking ability. – Michael J. Gelb

On Fishing: Light-hearted and Deep-minded Observations

Fishing is a discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish. — Herbert Hoover. 

Yes, Jesus poured himself out for others. But he also went to parties, had breakfasts on the beach, went into the desert by himself, and took time off from the crowds. — Joan Chittister

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. — Henry David Thoreau.

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. — Vincent Van Gogh

… fishermen are the people with the most immediate vested interest in having a healthy sea. — Mark Kurlansky

The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line. — William Humphrey

In every species of fish … it is the ones that have got away that thrill me the most, the ones that keep fresh in my memory. — Ray Bergman

…  drought affects everyone in the state, from farmers to fishermen, business owners to suburban residents, and everyone has a role to play in using precious water resources as wisely and efficiently as possible. — Frances Beinecke

What did Christ really do? He hung out with hard-drinking fishermen. — Iggy Pop

Fishermen own the fish they catch, but they do not own the ocean.— Etienne Schneider

There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. — Roderick Haig Brown

Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it. — Harry Middleton.

I go fishing not to find myself but to lose myself. — Joseph Monniger

Christianity began as a religion of the poor and dispossessed – farmers, fishermen, Bedouin shepherds. There’s a great lure to that kind of simplicity and rigor – the discipline, the call to action. — Camille Paglia

I only hope the fish will take half as much trouble for me as I’ve taken for them. — Rudyard Kipling.

Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll go fishing. — Henry David Thoreau.

If all politicians fished, instead of spoke publicly, we would be at peace with the world. — Will Rogers

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of something that is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. — attributed to John Bucha

I don’t want to sit at the head table anymore. I want to go fishing. — George Bush.

The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them. — John Gierach

I have fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret. — Roderick Haig Brown

The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad. — attributed to A.K. Best

Having a Sense of Purpose: Ordinary Tasks, Small Habits & Rituals as Sacred Moments

I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did? ― St Mother Teresa of Calcutta

It’s not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters. ― Rick Warren

… God’s attention is indeed fixed on the little things. But this is not because God is a great cosmic cop, eager to catch us in minor transgressions, but simply because God loves us–loves us so much that the divine presence is revealed even in the meaningless workings of daily life. It is in the ordinary, the here-and-now, that God asks us to recognize that the creation is indeed refreshed like dew-laden grass that is “renewed in the morning” or to put it in more personal and also theological terms, “our inner nature is being renewed everyday”. Seen in this light, what strikes many modern readers as the ludicrous details in Leviticus involving God in the minuitae of daily life might be revisioned as the very love of God. ― Kathleen Norris

Excerpt from an essay by Rumi —There is one thing in this world which you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there is nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life.
      It is as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So human beings come to this world to do particular work. That work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don’t do it, it’s as though a knife of the finest tempering were nailed into a wall to hang things on. For a penny an iron nail could be bought to serve for that.
      Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give your life to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don’t, you will be like the one who takes a precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You will be wasting valuable keenness and foolishly ignoring your dignity and your purpose.

If you want to know if you are, in fact, loving yourself at all, ask yourself if you have ever cultivated something you like to do—like crocheting or gardening or painting or golfing or music. Ever. And if you haven’t, why haven’t you? Listen carefully to the answer. It is the key to being a whole person; it is the key to a whole other life. — Sr Joan Chittister