The Fish

Short Papers Competition 2009 © 2010 Internet Lodge and the author Paper 12/2009 Title The Fish Author Bro Ron Hannah – England 200 years ago - “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day” “Teach him how to fish and he will feed himself for life” 100 years ago - “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day” “Teach him how to fish and he will build an empire” 50 years ago - “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day” “Teach him how to fish and he will steal your fish” 2009 “Where’s all the fish?” We’ve all heard the saying and there have been many interpretations relating to this including;- teaching and mentoring, improvement of skills, new ideas, change in technology and medicine, expansion of civilisations, governments, religions, the economy, global climate, human greed, selfishness, anti-social behaviour, war, peace, love, hate harmony, salvation, the list goes on. There is something to be said about enviously hoarding information, does it allows progress to happen and knowledge to evolve or should we teach and mentor all what we know? We provide all the hard work, dedicating our time to teach people the basics and we all add “some” new ideas (tools and progress) after they are responsible to make themselves successful. Do we give people only enough information so that they will want to come back for more? Sometimes people are looking for the right direction. They get lost and confused and need a helping hand, like the process of fishing. A little bit of knowledge may be huge to them without giving them the fish or having them steal it. It isn’t about getting people to come back to rewarded seminars for this knowledge. If you make money from your knowledge be careful what you teach because at the end of the day, it can affect your income. Ultimately people have their own ideas and goals and the mind sees what it wants to see if it does not have all the facts.
If you teach someone how to fish and they turn around and catch more fish, that’s not stealing, that’s capitalism. Maybe the technique has improved or perhaps the fishing equipment is outdated. Land is farmed and replenished by man and is sometimes good, sometimes bad, but what about the sea?
If we loose the fish will we loose the life? Do we change our craft? Short Papers Competition 2009 © 2010 Internet Lodge and the author The Masonic Link Let us compile our own thoughts and associate them with our personal circumstances relating to our Masonic livelihoods. These are some of mine;-  It is not dishonourable to ask for help when all other resources have fallen  Give when you can  We are not in a competition or in a league
 Some places are more enjoyable than others  It’s not disgraceful to move on  I want to learn at my own pace  I want to be a master fisherman  Follow the basic rules  We need fish Bro. Ron Hannah IL 9659, short papers competition, 30 th November 2008