Fishers And Ribs

The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said:

"This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:18-25)

I’ve always objected to non-gender terms such as fisher (even though Jesus is a “fisher of men” according to the Gospels).  I understand the logic but being “old school,” I still use fisherman or fishermen.  I reference women fishermen that way, and there are many of them.  

I’ve always said – and stubbornly – that when we take the “man” out of “woman” then perhaps I’ll comply.  Somewhat lightheartedly I say Genesis seems to support my position: “This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken.” 

I’m just not willing to change to “fisher” that to me is  Pekania pennanti, “a small carnivorous mammal native to North America [and Cape Cod] a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern United States. It is a member of the mustelid family (commonly referred to as the weasel family) and is in the monospecific genus Pekania. It is sometimes misleadingly referred to as a fisher cat, even though it is not a cat.”  A few years ago, one tore into my son’s chicken coop, and it wasn’t pretty.

On another matter: “The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.” Obviously, it’s a beautiful metaphor I like to treat as a way to convey that women protect – and sometimes break – men’s hearts.  They are the rib cage enclosing the chest and protecting the heart, as well as the lungs. Men cannot breathe without the protective ribs.  Women enable men to live and make their hearts beat with love. 

Moreover, it’s clear men are never supposed to break their ribs – the women in their lives, especially our wives.  We are to protect them, and when we don’t (and many of us don’t) we betray them: “man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”  We tear at our own flesh and shame ourselves when we harm them either mentally or physically when we “break” them.  Ribs and relationships don’t easily mend.

Deacon David Pierce