To smell the edge of salt breeze following steelhead
up a brawling coastal river.
We thank you for the gift of insects both aquatic and
terrestrial and for tiny fishes - these creatures we study to intently
and so awkardly represent in our offerings to the trout.
We thank you for the gift of friends bound by a common
interest and concern and for the camaraderie by which
our lives are enriched.
And Lord, though you might secretly smile at how we take
our angling pastime so deadly serious at times, we pray
that would would help us not to become so constantly
solemn that we forget the gifts of simple pleasure and
joy by which our bodies, minds and spirits are recreated.
We accept these gifts with gratitude and with the commitment
whenever possible, to right the wrongs we have done to this
good earth, and to preserve and maintain the unspoiled
places.
We pray that you would help us to remember that trout and
their waters are limited.
And we pray that you would grant us the wisdom and resolve
to be faithful caretakers of these treasures.
Amen. Reverend Daniel P. Abrams, Jackson, Wyoming