Perhaps you are familiar with the Latin phrase “caveat emptor”. It means “let the buyer beware”. My title today is a play on that phrase. The Latin for “one who fishes” is “piscator”. And on occasion, those who fish, like those who purchase, should beware!
Take for instance a scene in one of my favorite movies - the 1997 survival film titled The Edge, directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. It also starred Bart the Bear, a massive trained Kodiak bear who was featured in numerous other Hollywood movies.
The plot of the movie is fairly simple. A group of men go down in an airplane in Alaska and must make their way back to civilization. Unfortunately, they encounter a massive brown bear who stalks them each step of the way. Not only must they contend with a hungry bear, but ultimately with each other.
In one particularly chilling scene, the character played by Anthony Hopkins is attempting to catch a fish in a mountain stream when he somehow senses that something is not right. As he looks up and around, he suddenly finds that the massive bear is directly across the stream from him, preparing to advance. Needless to say, he quickly retreats and runs for his life!
In one of those instances where life seems to imitate art, a photographer named Robert Hawthorne snapped the picture below this past week in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The headline on the FoxNews.com article boldly proclaimed: “Brown bear photo-bombs 'oblivious' fishermen in wildlife photographer's photo”.
As you can see, that may not exactly do the moment justice!
Take for instance a scene in one of my favorite movies - the 1997 survival film titled The Edge, directed by Lee Tamahori and starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. It also starred Bart the Bear, a massive trained Kodiak bear who was featured in numerous other Hollywood movies.
The plot of the movie is fairly simple. A group of men go down in an airplane in Alaska and must make their way back to civilization. Unfortunately, they encounter a massive brown bear who stalks them each step of the way. Not only must they contend with a hungry bear, but ultimately with each other.
In one particularly chilling scene, the character played by Anthony Hopkins is attempting to catch a fish in a mountain stream when he somehow senses that something is not right. As he looks up and around, he suddenly finds that the massive bear is directly across the stream from him, preparing to advance. Needless to say, he quickly retreats and runs for his life!
In one of those instances where life seems to imitate art, a photographer named Robert Hawthorne snapped the picture below this past week in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The headline on the FoxNews.com article boldly proclaimed: “Brown bear photo-bombs 'oblivious' fishermen in wildlife photographer's photo”.
As you can see, that may not exactly do the moment justice!
The good news is that the article points out that the photographer notified the fishermen, who were able to move away from the danger quickly and escape without any injury, though they were understandably a little shaken.
As I read the article, I thought about how easily the huge bear had slipped up on the unsuspecting men. I was also reminded of what the Apostle Peter was led to write in his First New Testament Epistle (chapter 5, verse 8): “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Granted – bears and lions are different creatures that generally inhabit different environments. But both are still dangerous predators who slip up on and ambush unsuspecting prey. The photo above is thus an apt reminder of the truth that Peter is communicating to us about how the Devil operates in the lives of the people he preys upon. He sneaks up and catches people off guard.
For this reason, surely it behooves each of us to follow the admonition Peter gives! We must forever be on our guard; for the Devil would willingly pounce upon any one of us at any given moment and gladly drag us off into some activity or circumstance that would likely cause us heartache and harm.
STORY SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/brown-bear-photobombs-fishermen-alaska-wildlife-photographer.
NOTE: The original source appears to have been:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10050412/grizzly-bear-creeps-behind-men-fishing-oblivious-danger-yards-away/.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_(1997_film);
ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119051/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/1_peter/5.htm.
The good news is that the article points out that the photographer notified the fishermen, who were able to move away from the danger quickly and escape without any injury, though they were understandably a little shaken.
As I read the article, I thought about how easily the huge bear had slipped up on the unsuspecting men. I was also reminded of what the Apostle Peter was led to write in his First New Testament Epistle (chapter 5, verse 8): “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Granted – bears and lions are different creatures that generally inhabit different environments. But both are still dangerous predators who slip up on and ambush unsuspecting prey. The photo above is thus an apt reminder of the truth that Peter is communicating to us about how the Devil operates in the lives of the people he preys upon. He sneaks up and catches people off guard.
For this reason, surely it behooves each of us to follow the admonition Peter gives! We must forever be on our guard; for the Devil would willingly pounce upon any one of us at any given moment and gladly drag us off into some activity or circumstance that would likely cause us heartache and harm.
STORY SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/brown-bear-photobombs-fishermen-alaska-wildlife-photographer.
NOTE: The original source appears to have been:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10050412/grizzly-bear-creeps-behind-men-fishing-oblivious-danger-yards-away/.
SEE ALSO:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_(1997_film);
ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119051/.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/1_peter/5.htm.