John Fischer The Catch

by Marti Fischer

This appeal is a call for a transformative and much-needed change in the lives of those who have been deeply impacted by the Jesus Movement and its profound message of renewal and grace.

Before embracing the Lord in my mid-twenties, I was a self-assured and prideful young woman, firmly rooted in my own convictions of right and wrong. However, when I encountered the boundless mercy of the Lord, my perspective shifted dramatically. The world was no longer a realm of absolutes; instead, it became a landscape painted in shades of gray, with elusive answers.

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What if we were to write our own obituary? And what if we were to think of ourselves as we wrote this, not as the older person we were, but as the younger person we are, (“I’m younger than that now”)? What would we say? What would our younger self say about us in our own obituary column?

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We all have the tendency to want to define ourselves by the past. Our past successes are in the can. They are bankable. But it’s no good, because they are just that: they are past and gone. Few remember. Who you are is not who you were.

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Touch someone near you in love if you can.

This is probably the most memorable part of this Jesus Movement song. It pretty quickly developed a penchant for touching people all around you while singing this line. Many of the youth groups that used this song turned this into a game. Each time the chorus approached the leader would call out a number and that was how many people you had to touch around you as you sang this line. Of course, each time the number would grow bigger until the last time he would shout out something like “23!” and sheer bedlam would ensue. Now maybe this is not exactly touching someone “in love,” but it sure did loosen up a group. Suddenly shoulders were no longer stiff, and people were hugging and chatting by the end of the song. It truly did do magic on a crowd and it recaptured the perspective rooted in love, togetherness and inclusivity. Besides, we need to be more playful and not take ourselves so seriously.

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In 1964, at 22-years-old, Bob Dylan wrote and recorded a song with the following refrain: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

Younger than what? Younger than twenty-two? No. Younger than the older person that he had already become. It was as if he caught himself just in time. At twenty-two, he was already headed over the hill.

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