{"id":5428,"date":"2020-10-19T11:15:35","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T09:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbu.it\/cross-current-the-ascent-of-salmon\/"},"modified":"2020-10-27T09:33:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T08:33:41","slug":"cross-current-the-ascent-of-salmon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbu.it\/en\/cross-current-the-ascent-of-salmon\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross-current: the ascent of salmon"},"content":{"rendered":"Tempo di lettura:<\/span> 4<\/span> minuti<\/span><\/span>
Salmon are peculiar fish.<\/h5>\n

They are born in rivers, they spend their adult life in the sea and at a certain point, when the time comes to reproduce, they return to the river from which they came. They can recognize the river through which they reached the sea thanks to their sense of smell and the so-called \u2018home scent molecular memory\u2019. Thus, guided by their olfactory instinct, they begin to wander the sea or the ocean looking for the mouth of their river. Once they recognize the way home, they begin to swim against the current<\/strong> to the exact point where they were laid in the form of eggs.<\/p>\n

Salmon, therefore, swim in the opposite direction to the water flow: this requires considerable energy, clarity of purpose and stubbornness in the face of the obvious adversities that a similar journey requires. In the Christian life we are often like salmon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There are many fish in the sea, but only a few swim upstream. God did not make all fish the same, in a similar way that not all human beings become Christians. When we are immersed in the sea of our dominant culture we have many choices and alternatives. When Christian find themselves immersed in their society\u2019s dominant culture and tradition, it is easier to conform to it: no one likes to attract attention because they swim against the current.<\/p>\n

Yet, Jesus was the countercurrent by definition.<\/h5>\n

He was a salmon too. Until he turned 30, he was in the sea like the others. Then his ministry began and he started to go upstream, convincing others to do the same. He said countercurrent words about God, His character and His Kingdom. He spent his time with people who were discriminated against and despised. He was a leader against the current of expectations of his Jewish compatriots. He was nothing like what anyone expected<\/strong> and even today, Jesus and His words cause a stir. The Gospel causes a stir. His death for us on the cross is countercultural compared to the saving of self we hear so much about from the modern pulpits.<\/p>\n

Young Christian graduates are like fish in the ocean.<\/h5>\n

After having swam in calm and controlled waters, most of the time under the eyes of adults first (with family) and then friends (from the end of high school to university), they find themselves immersed in a vast and unknown space, with unstable boundaries: the world of work. They find themselves abandoning the cities and churches they belong to, their families and everything they knew in order to undertake new paths of life and growth, new difficulties and new challenges.<\/p>\n

With these premises, it is not surprising that even according to scholars the transition from the condition of students to that of workers is one of the most difficult and painful.<\/strong> Without the right energy, clarity of purpose and determination, it is easy to lose your way home. And our home is not here, but in the Kingdom of the One who created us. It is the House of the Lord, where we wish to dwell every day of our lives.<\/p>\n

Cross-current is a project designed specifically for young Christian graduates who want to live their faith fully in the workplace.<\/h5>\n

Born as an extension of the GBU (University Bible Groups), Cross-current allows young Christians who have recently entered the job world to reflect on God’s purposes for work and for us personally, based on a solid theological approach combined with prayer and peer-to-peer mentoring.<\/p>\n\n\t\t