There is a story in the Bible where several of the disciples are fishing and they come up short. They are instructed by a man on the beach to put the net on the right side of the boat and when they do the net is full of fish. The man on the shore is Jesus and the number of fish are over 150.

The meaning of the number of fish has been debated for as long as this story has been told. Why the number is very specific - 153 - and it seems like it should mean something. Some have said that it is the number of fish types known at that time. Others have used this number as some sort of "code" that reveals a secret message. I have no idea what the number means. What I am most interested in is the note that the net did not break.

Religion has a history of setting boundaries up to define who is in and who is out. There is an underlying fear that if we let just anyone "in" that the line between in and out will be blurry and perhaps the whole thing will come undone. We see this when someone in Christianity talks about universal salvation. Some fear universal salvation because if anyone "gets in" then that means that all that I know to be true (there are saved people and unsaved people) is undone.

When I read about the net being so full and overflowing but not breaking, leads me to believe that all the fear that I have about what happens when the boundaries break, or the anxiety that I have when my social structures are broken down, or the worry that I have when I consider what would happen if I really let everyone come to the table, are all a matter of my lack of faith.

When our borders are removed it may not mean that our nets will break. Having faith is trusting that the net is strong enough to support everyone.