Gotta Have My Fish & Audio Podcast

A Cowboy’s All-Purpose Slicker

Normally an old-time cowboy’s outfit ranked boring. Muddy boots, duckins for trousers, and off-white cotton shirt that turned gray with age did him fine. His bandanna started out quite colorful, but after a few weeks on the trail turned out grimy. Now, the one exception was his rain slicker he called his Fish, the trademark brand on the inside label.

Every Fish was a bright yellow oil skin slicker. Not a coat to keep you warm, it did keep you dry. Many a cowboy wore out his Fish by just tying it to the back of a saddle. But he wouldn’t think to go to work without it. To get caught in a downpour with your Fish slicker back in a wagon proved more humiliating than getting bucked off a kid horse.

A Fish of Many Uses

That Fish came in handy on more days than rainy ones. If the cowboy rode a slick, worn saddle on a horse wanting to buck, the Fish would jam between him and the saddle horn. That made a bucking roll to wedge him in. A Fish slicker also produced a good item to train a horse with. They wouldn’t be so jumpy at every new thing they saw.

And being as waterproof as anything in those days, the Fish could cover your pack, bedroll, dinner, your other shirt or spare coat. It protected anything else you didn’t want to get soaked during a storm or crossing the river. The old Fish slicker secured a wide variety of valuables. Only a dirt poor or dumb cowboy rode without one.

Spiritual Coverings

The Bible says, “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

Now, covering the sins of those we love doesn’t mean we believe their actions correct. Sin is sin. And covering them doesn’t mean they can escape from the consequences. However, we refuse to let other people’s sins destroy the friendship of those we love.

Take It With Us

I’ve got a feeling we ought to roll up that kind of love and take it with us wherever we go. You never know when a relationship will suddenly fail you. It’s a mighty handy item with way more uses than any yellow Fish slicker. With God’s help, we’re not too poor to love this way. Nor too dumb to know it’s good spiritual smarts.

Stephen Bly

Circa 1993, 2008

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“The Fish That Covers” audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.  

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