If you have been following our end-of-the-year emails, you have no doubt become familiar with the contradictions and complications surrounding the nefarious and dastardly but suave Captain Hook from the classic story of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. The many adaptations on stage and screen are a tribute to the entertaining staying power of the story, and the many psychological studies such as The Peter Pan Syndrome by Dan Kiley and in-depth discussions in countless other books attest to the deeper, adult issues imbedded in this story that speak to universal problems that face every generation.
Captain Hook is a seriously conflicted individual. Caught between good form and bad form and driven by his hatred of Peter Pan and fear of the crocodile chasing him, he takes the form of a vulnerable villain. He can be at one point a fierce, threatening pirate, and yet he can be suddenly reduced to a grimacing, fleeing child by the mere sound of a ticking clock. You see, he lost his hand in a sword fight with Peter Pan, and Peter fed his hand to a crocodile who liked the taste of it so much he is ever seeking Hook so he can feed on the rest of him. The only thing keeping Hook alive is the fact that the crocodile has also swallowed a clock whose loud ticking is what warns him that the croc is in the vicinity and he had better hightail it out of there.
But what happens when the clock winds down? Poor Hook won’t have any way of knowing where his nemesis is. Which is a true picture of all of us who have no idea when the clock will run out on our own lives. It could happen now, tomorrow, or years from now. Who knows? Only God. That’s why Hook becomes an unlikely character for us to identify with. He’s a comical representative of us all, which is why we chose him.
Take myself – I think of myself as all good form until my feet go on the floor in the morning and I look in the mirror and see a classic representation of bad form. I can’t even get the hairs on my head to go in the right direction after a few hours in bed. And how about my sin? As one of our Catch members puts it, “I’m not really aware of any sin in my life until my feet hit the floor in the morning!”
Captain Hook exemplifies our race against time, but in reality, thank God if you know Jesus, because then it’s God’s grace against time. God’s grace – His undeserved favor – accompanies us through the heartache and the disappointment we face. God’s grace takes us through everything. And when it’s time for our clock to stop, God’s grace will be there to take us to where we will live forever with Christ in a timeless eternity.
So it’s the fictitious Hook who has allowed us to have some fun with what is for us a very serious but brief, two-day end-of-the-year fundraising campaign. We kept it brief because we did not want to compete with those organizations, including our own, who attend to the needs of the hungry, the homeless and the hurting especially at this time of year.
But wait – we aren’t done yet. Our campaign was a little too brief. We haven’t finished our count until last minute checks arrive in the mail, but so far we are still about $5,000 short of our goal, so we are asking those of you who may have missed our campaign, and others who might want to give more, to give into 2020 now that we are here. The croc is still chasing Hook and our time to expand is here. Thank the Lord the clock is still running on our opportunity to introduce the Gospel of Welcome – Grace Turned Outward – to everyone, everywhere thru this worldwide ministry. This is not a pipe dream. Because of the global reach of the internet, it is reachable. Reach everyone? The Catch can.
A word about matches. We are still $500 short of completing our $2,000 match, plus, one of our Accountability Commission members has just offered another $500 match, so meeting these two matches will almost guarantee our goal. Won’t you take the opportunity to cooperate with these Catch partners by making the most of their generous gifts to double your donation today?
The clocks still ticking. There’s still time to add your name to this list below, or like Merlyn from Arizona, still time to give again. Our “Thank you” gift of a Cold Cathedral remastered download – John’s groundbreaking first album – is still offered to all who participate.
The Catch, which began as a mere blog in 2008, thanks to our chairman in 2012 is the first online community that now belongs to you and your growing influence in the world. You are our boots on the ground, and our commitment to you is to immerse you in the Gospel of Welcome – Grace Turned Outward – so you can spread grace around to those with whom you walk in the world. Look for many more opportunities in the New Year to learn about this grace and how to live it out in the marketplace.
Hook is still running. So are we. But our race against time is also grace against time because everything comes from God and nothing from us.
A click on the clock
Gives a lick to the croc
(The croc of time, that is. Help us reach our goal in 2020!)
A big THANK YOU to all those who have donated!
Come one, come all, let’s finish this!
Gary, Rathdrum, Idaho
Merlyn, Goodyear, Arizona
Allen, Exton, Pennsylvania
Mark, Raleigh, North Carolina
Mayre, Santa Cruz, California
Priscilla, Spencerport, New York
Sandy, Englewood, Colorado
John, Coralville, Iowa
Arthur, Arlington, Virginia
Robert, Miami, Florida
Keith, Portland, Oregon
Markus, Koln, Germany
Frank, Las Vegas, Nevada
Ralph, La Habra Heights, California
Sara, Boerne, Texas
Victor, New Castle, Pennsylvania
George, Barefoot Bay, Florida
Chan, Hong Kong
Shari, Laguna Beach, California
Laura, Phoenix, Arizona
Mark, Garden City, Michigan
Merlyn, Goodyear, Arizona
Mike, Sacramento, California
Hal, Lititz, Pennsylvania
Noel, Blue Hill, Maine
Neil, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lyn
David, Lakeville, Minnesota
Laura, Lubbock, Texas
David, Kati Kati, New Zealand
Darin, Cozad, Nebraska
Linda, Rugby Warwickshire, U.K.
Kent, Bryan, Ohio
Christopher, Edwardsville, Illinois
David, Liberty Lake, Washington
Roger, Whittier, California
Laura, Phoenix, Arizona
Paul, Wayne, Pennsylvania
Daryl
Paula, Decatur, Alabama
Linda, Bainbridge Island, Washington
William, Huntsville, Alabama
John, Cupertino, California
John, Chicago, Illinois
Tom, Washington, D.C.
Patrick, Dundee, Michigan
Lisa, Sunland, California
Joe, Sugar Land, Texas
Cynthia, Harlingen, Texas
Garry, Ozark, Arkansas
Pat & Dave, Normandy Park, Washington
Christina, Columbia, Maryland
Michael, Tucson, Arizona
Dick, East Amhurst, New York
Lewis
Mike, Cambria, California
The clock’s still running.
Join them now.
John Fischer The Catch 
Good to connect, John. Happy New Year!