Fisher of Men—Chris Slaten
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Fisher of Men
by Chris Slaten
The serene sea of unmoved faces defines his vocation. He walks off into a shadowed corner of the stage and stalks down the steps, confronting the front row. Scratching the back of his neck, contemplating his next gesture, he explains, “They cannot hear him because he is familiar.” He swerves to edge of the crowd pacing up the side aisle, casting out story after story into a rippling wave of shoulders adjusting to his nearness. Even as he passes behind, they stare blankly ahead, his single-sided interrogations skipping over rows of backs of heads. He persists, untroubled by the shimmering stillness of the surface; he is calling out to mute, unknown creatures stirring beneath. With a shout he raises an emphatic hand, then glances down as if startled by the tail of a great white whale.
Chris Slaten teaches high school writing and literature most of the time. He also releases music under the name Son of Laughter. His most recent single “The Great One,” an ode to Caesar Augustus, was made possible by listeners who hosted and attended his house and church shows across the country. He’s currently working on a new full length album. He lives in Chattanooga, TN, with his wife, Lyndsay, and their three delightful children.
Photo by Cristian Palmer on Unsplash
This is a really neat one. I actually thought it was gonna be about Jesus at first, but then I realized it was us, or anyone, who's a fisher of man. Makes me think of a pastor who can preach to his congregation over and over again, sometimes getting stuck in the mundane and familiarity of Sunday morning every week. But the reminder is we're fishing for deep inside man, and so we keep trying, waiting for that point when one, or more, have the white whale of conviction raised in them, and change is at last brought to the surface.
This reminds me of a fundamentalist street preacher whom every one ignores and avoids by going to the other side of the street. Perhaps he becomes self aware realizing he's been chasing a white whale.