If wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets in the sea.

Eric Bogle, “If Wishes Were Fishes”

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:2

A Week of Hope

This past Sunday we lit the Advent Candle of Hope, as we always do this time of year. We arrive again in expectation, on the edge of this solemn season that yields up Christmas and Epiphany. It’s a special celebration. The nights get longer, the days cool off, and we eventually find ourselves bathed in the light of the love the Christ.

This year, instead of a lego calendar,, I decided to make an Advent Calendar on Instagram. If you’d like to follow along, please use this link. Each day I’ll present a poem or some other reading. Sometimes it will be just a thought (like today). I hope you’ll enjoy following along with me during Advent, and I hope you’ll forgive my lack of video editing skills as I endeavor to keep it simple.

But first, I’d like to take issue with the cliche in my title today

I’ve been hearing this phrase a lot lately…it’s following me around. Have you noticed it? I wonder if it relates to bloated Christmas wish lists, or if there’s just something in the air right now. If wishes were fishes is invoked sometimes when someone says they want something that may seem out of reach. The sage advisor intones: “If wishes were fishes…” and it can end several ways. “If wishes were fishes, we’d all have riches,” or “if wishes were fishes we’d have some to fry.”

They seem to be saying that wishes are worth much less than the effort it takes to get out there and do something about it. In this way, it’s a call to action. I don’t have a real problem with that, but sometimes it’s the opposite. “If wishes were fishes” can also mean, “I hear you, dreamer, but you aren’t going to do anything about it, so forget it.”

Well, I prefer Eric Bogle’s version

“If wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets in the sea.” That reminds me that without the wish to catch a fish, you would never even try. It’s the wish, the hope, the first thought that drives us out of complacency and into action. Without a wish, you never even pick up a fishing rod and set bait and cast.

So as you dream your way through Advent, consider today which of your wishes will come true. The truth is, it’s as much up to you and it is up to anyone else. And only you can make the start.

Wishing you Advent Hope as we approach the Second Advent Sunday: Peace.