Le Moine et le Poisson

I found this charming short film earler today while looking for something else:

This is important! Look!

Sometimes I feel like the monk when he tries to show his friends what he has seen, only to be met with skepticism and indifference. It is unsettling.

Somebody who watched the video on youtube had this beautiful interpretation:

...the fish symbolizes God, or the idea of God. The monk is struggling to catch the fish, which symbolizes the human need to "catch" God or have an understanding of him. When the monk finally gives in and simply follows the fish, he is able to be at peace, (like being at peace with God).

We cannot master God, or control Him, or force Him to reveal Himself to us on our terms, at the the time of our choosing. It is only after the monk gives up trying to be in charge and peacefully follows the fish that he is led through a narrow way to a wide open place where finally the fish is his.

The fish is, of course, an ancient symbol for Christ, but at the end of the video, when the fish settles in over the head of the monk, I was reminded of depictions of the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire that appeared at Pentecost, one over the head of each apostle.

The last we see of the monk is his gentle, tumbling ascent toward the heavens where God the Father will certainly greet him with love.