Swimming with the (four-eyed) fishes

My friend Caleb has been nagging me for some time to start a blog. First I had to decide what to call it. Here’s the story.

Most animals have eyes that focus in air or in water. The so-called four-eyed fish (Anableps) is unique in being able to do both simultaneously. It seems to me that living as a follower of Jesus requires us to develop the same capacity – perceiving two realities at the same time. What the bible calls the seen and the unseen. This means being alert to the circumstances and needs around us, facing up to reality and not feeling we always have to put a positive spin on things. But at the same time being aware of a different reality. One which although unseen is just as real. One in which different rules apply. And like air and water, these two realities are in fact part of one created order.

We see Abraham swimming with the four-eyed fish when he faces the fact that his body is as good as dead, yet is fully persuaded that God can do what he promised (see Romans 5:18ff)

Or take a look in Hebrews 11, the bible’s four–eyed fish aquarium, and you’ll see Moses weighing up the two realities and reckoning that what comes in the package marked “disgrace for the sake of Christ” is of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

I don’t always see as clearly as that, but I want to keep working on it. I want to learn to swim with the (four-eyed) fishes.

There’s another thing. You’ve probably spotted that “swimming with the fishes” is another way of saying you’re a dead man. Yup. I think that’s how it works.