KEEPING
COD FRESH

Topics: Enemies; Spiritual Warfare; Temptation; Trials

References: John 15:18–27; 16:1–4; Ephesians 6:10–18

The only way to ship fresh North Atlantic cod from Boston to San Francisco during the nineteenth century was to sail around the South American continent. That trip took months, so, as you can imagine, the first attempts to dress the cod in Boston and pack it in ice failed miserably. The fish was inedible when it got to California.

In the next attempt, the cod were placed in holding tanks full of water, shipped to California alive, and dressed there. The results were also less than satisfactory. The fish didn’t get much exercise during the trip, so they were pasty and relatively tasteless.

Finally, someone suggested, “Why don’t we put some catfish in with the cod?” That wasn’t such a wild idea, since catfish are the natural enemy of cod.

Sure enough, when a few catfish were placed in the tanks with them, the cod kept swimming to stay out of eating range. When they reached San Francisco, they were in perfect shape.

—Bill Myers and David Wimbish, The Dark Side of the Supernatural (Bethany, 1999)