A weir
It takes a lot to get my family to willingly crawl out of bed at 6:30 in the
morning while on vacation; but our anticipated day on Grand Manan Island had us
all jumping up at the sound of the usually unwelcome alarm! It only took us a
few minutes to throw on our clothes and load into the van for the 45 km trip to
Blacks Harbour, where we would await the ferry that would take us across the
Fundy Bay to this beautiful island. The fact that the sun was shining made our
enthusiasm soar even higher. The beach gear was in the back, along with a cooler
containing all of our meals for the day. It would be a great day! Or so we
thought.
By the time we reached Grand Manan, the sky had turned into a grey blob, ready
at any minute to drop wet pellets not only on the hapless visitors, but also on
the enthusiastic excitement they brought with them. We managed to stay pretty
dry while visiting the Swallowtail Lighthouse, which was only a short drive from
the ferry dock; and by wearing rain jackets and hats, we didn't even get too wet
on our short hike to reach the Hole-in-the-Wall, a natural rock formation along
the island's rocky cliffs.
Just as we got back to the van however, and my son had had the time to call out,
"I left my water bottle back at the Hole-in-the-Wall!", the heavens opened and
the torrential rain began to fall. My wife, ever the adventuresome one, was
drenched when she returned from retrieving the "wayward" water bottle, and the
rest of us soon followed suite as we continued to try and visit the rest of this
beautiful rocky coastline.
We gave up our sightseeing after that, and we spent the rest of the morning
driving from one end of the island to the other, finally returning 3 hours
earlier than necessary to the ferry landing, happy to hear that they would
change our reservations to an earlier ferry! Never had our dry trailer back in
St. Andrews-by-the-Sea seemed so inviting!
While aboard the ferry on our return to Black Harbor, I spent some time
reflecting on our wet trip; and one incident that happened close to the
Hole-in-the-Wall really struck me.
The local fishermen used a neat invention to trap fish. It was a huge wooden
contraption called a weir. It consisted of wooden poles buried in the floor of
the bay, usually in the shape of an oval, that were surrounded by netting. There
was only one small opening in the netting, usually on one of the long sides of
the oval, and there would always be another row of poles and netting that ran
from the shore to the opening of the weir, usually in a perpendicular line.
To understand how the weir works, it is necessary to understand the phenomenon
of the Bay of Fundy tides, which are known to be the highest in the world. Fundy
tides can rise and fall anywhere from 18 to 28 feet, and they do so regularly,
every 6 to 7 hours. At high tide, the fish come in to shore to feed, and when
the tides go back out, these fish can easily get trapped in the weirs. Though
they could swim back out of the opening if they wanted to, they tend to just get
caught up in swimming giant figure 8s around the netting until the fishermen
come out for the harvest.
We had seen such a weir from the trail, just yards from the Hole-in-the-Wall,
and this weir had held our attention for a long time. Had it not been raining,
we might have stood there for hours. Why? Because there was a young porpoise
entrapped in this wooden contraption.
He had probably been enticed in by the thought of being able to stuff himself on
all of those scrumptious local fish; but once inside, he soon got caught up in
the circle eights, never realizing that escape was available through the opening
where he had entered.
We could wave and yell at him all we wanted. We could scream out instructions on
how to get out of his predicament, but he just continued to swim around and
around in a perfect eight, always missing his exit by only a couple of inches.
Eventually he would give up, and the fish he had come in for would be but a
bitter reminder of how he had become imprisoned.
In due course, the Whale Research Station (who we later learned had already been
informed of the imprisoned porpoise) would come out and free him, and he would
swim away, hopefully having learned an important lesson about avoiding
temptation. Undeserved grace would be bestowed upon this hapless creature.
The young porpoise had been lured into a trap by his own appetite. His craving
had ensnared and imprisoned him. Isn't it the same with sin? Doesn't temptation
make the lure look grandiose, too crucial to pass up? If we give in to our
emotions, we soon find ourselves addicted to the bait with no way out, no matter
how hard we try. Sin is always addictive, and on our own, it is impossible to
break free. We may try, but like that purposeless porpoise, we only find
ourselves turning in vicious circles. Sometimes we may think we've finally
broken free, only to fall back, deeper into sin's deadly grasp moments later.
Hopeless addicted, our purpose in life becomes to satisfy our sinful habit.
Just like the porpoise needs outside help to get out of the weir, the only way
out of the traps of sin lies in an outside Rescue Team. Our Heavenly Father, in
His immense grace, sent His Son down to this earth and lived among us. He was
crucified for our sins and rose up again to share His resurrection power with
each of us. Anyone who accepts His help will find a way out of their purposeless
lifestyle. They will find themselves free of their deadly habits. Jesus will
become real to them as they realize that their freedom was obtained 2000 years
ago.
"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he came and set his people free. He set
the power of salvation in the center of our lives. (Luke 1:68-69 The Message)
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36 NIV)
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12 NIV)
Jesus is the only one who can rescue us. Will we let Him? Or will we be like the
purposeless porpoise forever?
Rob Chaffart
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