Thursday, October 27, 2005

Fish lovers?

Conversation on the way to school the other day.

K: Why do so many people have fish on the back of their cars, like that one? (gestures toward the fender of SUV in front of us)

M: That is a Christian fish and people put them on their cars to let us know they are Christians.

K:How do we know that fish is a Christian fish?

M: It has some Greek letters on it...err, well... (OK, so I do not know, though I am sure I should! ) I think it has to do with Jesus being a fisher of men but I'm not really sure.

K: So if you have a fish on your car like that one, it means you are a Christian?

M: Yes.... Well, it means the person who owns that car wants you to know they are Christians.

K: We don't have a fish on our car.

M: You don't have to have a fish on your car to be a Christian , but you can if you want.

K: (after thinking about it a minute or two) I don't want a fish on our car. If we put something Christian on our car I want it to be a cross. That way people won't wonder if we are Christians or if we just like fish.

Stumped by a 7 year old. Again.

7 comments:

MDM said...

that is too cute. When my brother was little and really wanting to get together with some other new kid from school..he justified it to my mom by saying, "come on, they have a fish on their car." Cute Cute. Enjoy Halloween.

Anonymous said...

This probably just one of those little stories...
but someone once told me that long ago when 2 people came upon each other and did not speak the same language, one person would draw an arc in the dirt in front of them. If the other person drew an arc in the opposite direction (connecting to the other person's arc and creating the "fish" icon we see) then it meant that they were both Christians. Interesting-- who knows if that holds any water!

jettybetty said...

I love it!!! So, will you be getting a cross for the car???

SG said...

Thanks anon. I knew there was a story to this.
JB~ This is one of my quirks...I don't put any identifying stickers etc on my car. 1. Because I don't like them, and 2. What if I put the said cross or fish on my car and then had a bad day and accidentally cut someone off, or ran a stop sign, or yelled really loud at misbehaving kids in the parking lot, or something else that didn't look so good? I don't want Christianity to look bad because of my car behavior. Quirky, I know but aside from what thety put on at the factory/dealership, I prefer my bumper,tailgate, and back window to be free of all signs, symbols etc.

Donna G said...

I am with you on keeping the car clear.

And I a grateful that I was not the only one who didn't know why a "fish" meant Christian.

**The only bumper sticker I was ever tempted to get was the one that said "My kid beat up your honor student".....I know I am just sick!**

Matt Elliott said...

All you could ever hope to know about the "Christian fish" (a.k.a. "ichthus") from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys

Just trying to help, ma'am. :-)

Susan - said...

That is so funny, we had almost the same conversation with Jonathan recently. I wonder why they both just now noticed those things?