I’ll never forget when my Papa Kiyoshi sat me down and tried to teach me how to tie an uni knot on my bamboo fishing pole. Truthfully, I didn’t have the patience or interest in learning. All I wanted was to return to the streambank with the hope of catching the big one.
I spent endless hours during my summer breaks gripping that old cane bamboo pole. It wasn’t much, maybe five-feet long with another five-feet of suji line, two egg sinkers and a hook – but it was perfect for me. It was light in my hands, easy to drop into the water and it was strong.
I can still picture the first time I hooked a massive tilapia. It fought fiercely, pulling with all its might. My heart raced as the bamboo pole bent almost to its breaking point, but it never snapped. No matter how hard the tilapia tugged, the bamboo withstood the strain. How could something so simple and natural be so resilient and strong?
That was 50 years ago…
As I observe the world today swirling in chaos around us, fractured with political tension, anger and division, I’m reminded of my struggle with that tilapia. It may sound silly and trite, but visualize the pushing and pulling happening across the country; doesn’t it feel like something could snap at any moment?
Then, think about my bamboo pole. In a time of immense pressure, it bent without breaking. That childhood memory fills me with hope. Perhaps what our country needs is the flexibility and resilience of bamboo, perseverance and the fortitude to stand strong, even when everything around it appears to be falling apart. Like bamboo, our communities must be able to bend and sway with the shifting winds of change, yet remain unbroken. It is through this resilience that we can weather the storms that lie ahead.
There’s still plenty of fish to catch and plenty of living to do.
