I have had a freshwater aquarium for several years now. It started as a winter project in those cold winters “up North” when I couldn’t play in the dirt. We had gotten a little plastic fish tank at a yard sale, put a goldfish in it and promptly killed it. Then did the same with a second goldfish, unsure what I was doing wrong. Then I read about how “dirty” goldfish are, and how they can’t live in small tanks unless there is a lot of maintenance to keep the water clean. I also learned that having live plants can counteract the waste that fish produce and that basically, the healthiest aquariums are the ones that are balance little ecosystems. Our little goldfish experiment suddenly turned into a 55-gallon freshwater planted aquarium with lots of plants and fish and a new hobby. For me, the plants became more fun than the fish (and more expensive). I found a way to “play in the dirt” even in the cold months.

I brought my tank with me, and set it up, starting from scratch after the move. I learned some things about the setup from the first couple of years I was involved. I ordered new plants online, set it all up, added the fish, and it started out great. It was just as good as it had been in Maryland. But then a new type of algae started growing. Algae isn’t all bad – it’s a sign that the tank is healthy. But this algae was taking over. I almost couldn’t stay on top of it. It was a slimy, green monster that covered everything that didn’t move. In the end, I am going to have to black out the tank and keep all sunlight and all artificial light from hitting it for four days or so and see if I can kill it off once and for all. Algae just happens. It’s really frustrating!

I don’t know what brought about this algae outbreak of a sort I didn’t see in Maryland. As I read up on it I learned that different water sources can really affect things like algae. There might be something in the tap water here that wasn’t in the water, or not to the same degree up north, which is feeding the algae and the tank in ways that I can’t even see. It’s possible that it could be a decomposing piece of driftwood, or some element or mineral in the large decorative rocks I used as landscaping. There are many variables when it comes right down to it. I may have to try them one at a time.

But, algae is a part of keeping fish. When it builds up, you clean it off, and it usually stays in check. You adjust light, nutrients in the water, fish load, and everything you can

(heck, I even inject CO2 into my tank!). But if you don’t keep an eye on it, and don’t work a plan, it is sort of like kudzu – it will take over eventually. I think there are many things in our lives that operate similarly. Things don’t always go as smoothly or as easily as we might want them to. Challenges might come our way, we might collect symptoms that something isn’t right. We might harbor anger or resentment. We might lose track of our health, watching our weight or our blood pressure or our sugars creep up on us. It’s a constant process of monitoring ourselves and making adjustments, lest one of them take over.

I don’t recall anything in the bible that says life is easy, especially not for those who choose to follow Jesus. Stuff happens, as a similarly worded bumper sticker reads. What we must try to do is to keep an eye on all the moving parts of our lives and keep things in balance. Our faith is a part of that. Our ability to stay grounded in what this life of ours is all about, keeping it in perspective with regard to our call to follow Christ and make him known in the world. It is often through our faith that we can scrape away the things that cling to us and build up over time. We can give the bumpy areas over to God; we can seek strength for facing challenges; we can release our anger and our anxieties for God to deal with them; we can take seriously a love for ourselves found in the love God has for us as a motivation to care for our bodies.

Algae happens. Stuff happens. God is good, despite all of it, and with God’s help we can find healing and wholeness. God is, albeit an inadequate metaphor, the keeper of the tank in which we live and move and have our being, and we can trust God to help us keep it all in balance so that we can thrive.

Tom+

O Heavenly father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray thee so to guide and govern us by the Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our daily life we may never forget thee, but remember that we are ever walking in thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord.