I still vividly recall everything like it was just yesterday.

The Sea of Galilee has always been a haven for people like me who are into fishing. Even when I and my
brother, Andrew, were still kids, our dad would bring us here to teach us how to swim and how to fish.

The Sea of Galilee had also fed us for decades, so much so that I couldn’t remember a time when we had
nothing to eat. Though I couldn’t consider our family to be rich back then, the Sea had always been the
source of our everything. What I had, have, and will have, I owe it to the vastness of the waters that once
became my home.

As a fisherman, I must honestly admit that the Sea was not always gracious to me and to my colleagues.
There were countless times – yes, countless times! – when it almost took my life. The wrath of the wind
and the mighty showmanship of the waves, coupled with the sharp lightning and deafening thunders could
easily shake my knees every now and then. Truly, regardless of how seasoned one is in this kind of
business, the fact that one can look like a tiny, teensy-weensy dust compared with the limitlessness of the
waters could still give one a shrinking feeling.

But today, although the Sea is not outraged, it still tries to take my life – our lives, to be totally honest.

For many months, there has been no harvest of any kind. No fish. Not even a single one. Every single
day, I would take my boat and sail on every direction to try my luck but to no avail. Out of desperation, I
even attempted to dive beneath the waters to find out what the problem was but there was no answer.

“Any luck, today, Andrew?” I asked my brother.

“You’d wish. I’ve been out in the sea for hours but it looks like all the fish in the world decided they did not
want to be eaten today”, he jokingly replied.

Andrew and I got off to the shore and opened our bags to have some lunch – just bread and water. How
long do we need to wait before any of us could taste some of the finest fish we once got tired of eating all
the time?

While eating, I almost thought of changing career. What about farming? I heard that this time of the year is
the best time to start a vineyard business. I might try this for a change. After all, what do I have to lose
when I have nothing in my pocket and my savings, anyway? All my life, I have been thinking if I chose the
right decision of forever becoming a fisherman. You know, just because my whole family lived on fishing
does not mean that I should also do the same. I mean, what is there to live for? Am I just gonna die as a
fisherman for the rest of my life? These are just few of the questions I always ponder about. Somehow, I
knew that there is more to this life than throwing off nets in the open seas. Somehow, I knew that there is
something out there in the real world that is waiting for me.

After the just-finish-your-lunch moment with my brother, I decided to try again my luck for the last time. If I
don’t succeed this time, I thought to myself, I will just really give up fishing. Three months of trying my luck
is enough to tell myself that there is really nothing in the Sea anymore. Maybe the Sea is now taking its toll
against us. Or maybe – just maybe – it is the end of my being a fisherman. But if I quit on my profession,
what would my life be? What would be the purpose of my waking up each day? What would be there for
me to live for?
Boarding my boat, I carelessly released the rope to sail once again. If ever, this would be my last sail, I
thought to myself. Just in time, however, I felt a very soft and warm hand firmly gripping my arm as if he
would never let go. I remember being touched like this when I was a child. My dad took me on a sail far
from the shore one sunny afternoon. When we got in the middle of the sea, the sun hid from the clouds
real fast and dark clouds covered the skies till none could be seen at the vistas. The middle of the day that
it was suddenly looked like the middle of the night. The heavens were furious and heavy rains poured out
like it was never gonna end. The ship my father and I were riding on vehemently swayed from each
unimaginable directions and fear started crippling from my head to toe. Suddenly, in the middle of keeping
the boat from sinking, my father held me tight in my arms and shouted, “Son, hang tight! We are gonna
survive this storm!”

When this man touched me, I remembered my dad’s voice shouting at the top of his lungs, “Son, hang
tight! We’re gonna survive this storm!” Somehow, from within, I felt the comfort of my father. It felt like the
fear inside me was melting instantly. His touch surely made me feel like I still have some sort of purpose in
life – that there was something more to this life than what I had been living for all my life.

I looked at this man’s eyes and I saw my past life. I was a young and clumsy boy and I stumbled while
playing with my friends who all laughed at me. I was a teenager holding a girl’s hand for the first time. I
was a young man getting drunk and I did not know how to go home. I was a man and I was fixing the hole
in my boat. More importantly, I was insignificant, unloved, and had no direction in life. I knew, back then,
by merely looking at his eyes, I was in trouble. There was a storm inside my heart that was trying to
destroy me and to put me down. But his touch and his eyes assured me that everything’s gonna be fine.
That I am gonna survive this “storm.”

“There are fish in the eastern side of the Sea, about 2 miles from here. You wanna try catching again with
your nets? I can come with you,” he said with authority.

I was about to say no to this stranger but there was something in his voice that you cannot explain. A part
of me wanted to drive him away but a bigger portion of me told me I needed him at that exact time and
place. He aboard my boat and we sailed just as how he told me to.

“There have been no fish in the eastern side, neither in the western. In fact, there have been no fish in this
sea for almost three months!” I claimed while paddling my boat away from the shore.

“The problem is not with the fish. The problem is that there are no fishermen,” he retorted. What was he
saying? Hadn’t he seen the shore where there were boat by boat and fishermen after fishermen
desperately wanting for miracles of a fish catch even just for this day?

“Here, we can stop here,” he said with a smile. “Throw off your net.”

Sarcastically, I threw my net in the sea, trying to prove this stranger that he was absolutely wrong. For
months, the Sea has been tight-fisted and merciless. This day was no different, I reminded myself.

Suddenly, my net became extremely heavier that it felt like it was about to tear in parts. To my amusement,
I could not carry the net any longer. The stranger gave me a hand and he looked like he knew what he was
doing. Judging by the way he held my net and positioned his knee and feet against the lining of my boat, I
was sure he was a fisherman, and a rather good one at that.
“Okay, at the count of three, let’s lift the net together,” the stranger demanded. “One, Two, Three!”

I could not speak. For the first time in three months – no, for the first time in my life – my boat was filled
with fish of several species that it took a while before the swaying of the boat went back to normal. I could
not believe what my eyes were gazing upon. This is a miracle of a lifetime!

“How could have you known all about these?,” I exclaimed.

“I told you, there are a lot of fish but there are no fishermen.”

“What do you mean?”, I asked.