Keeping Fish Alive

One of the downsides of maintaining a fish tank is that fishes tend to die easily...at least they do in my family.  Having a cat around the house doesn't help.  My daughter recently "won" two small goldfish from a local carnival, whom she affectionately named Fred and Felipe.  Their initial home out of the plastic bags was a small clear acrylic container that held less than a quart of water, and they seemed quite vigorous during the initial moments under our care.  Unfortunately, it didn't take long before our cat, Pepper, took notice of them, and on the following afternoon, Fred and Felipe had near-death experiences as the cat picked up the container by the handle with his teeth and spilled the fish onto the floor.  Their lives were temporarily spared when my son happened to notice them flopping in the puddle and managed to scoop them back into the nearly dry container.  The poor fish spent the remainder of their lives in our spare bathroom with the door closed to keep the cat out.

The feline incident was followed by a couple of relatively uneventful days, during which I was charged with feeding the fish, changing the water and keeping the cat out while my daughter was away for the weekend on a music retreat.  Fred and Felipe didn't seem too happy, but I was glad that they survived my watch.  Then things got interesting.  A family friend had a bunch of guppies, and offered us several of them for our icthyologic collection.  The bathroom now had a larger bowl, with Fred and Felipe sharing water with Guppy One, Guppy Two, Guppy Three, Guppy Four, Guppy Five and Guppy Six.

Fred and Felipe both died the next day, and it had nothing to do with the cat this time.  A couple of the guppies joined the same fate within a day or so, and only two survived by the end of a week.  At least we were getting pretty good at keeping the bathroom door closed.

It turns out that keeping fish alive is a lot more complicated than simply putting them in water, giving them food, and keeping them safe from four-pawed predators.  Their livelihood can be severely compromised if the water is too warm or too cold, if there is too much or too little food, if they don't like each other, if some can be eaten by others, or if the water has too much chlorine, too little oxygen, toxins like ammonia and chloramine, or germs that cause fish diseases like ich.  Fish wouldn't have a chance if their owners don't know what they are doing.

Thankfully, our "owner" is the God of all creation who spoke the the universe into existence, who knows our every need to not only survive, but thrive.  Like goldfish and guppies, we are finicky creatures, and need clean air with just the right amount of oxygen, clean water, a narrow range of atmospheric pressure and temperature, food, shelter, sanitation, community, and protection.  Unlike poor Fred, Felipe and the guppies, we don't have to worry that God will "forget" to take care of us or make mistakes.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"  (Matthew 6:25-27)

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Matthew 6:31-34)

May our hearts be overflowing with thanksgiving for God's attention to our needs, without which we will immediately cease to exist.