Mike

Michael David Cashin
September 25, 1950 - April 23, 2008

Greetings.

It has taken me some time to process the loss of my friend, Mike....but here it is.

If you’d like to get into a ‘proper space’ to read this blog, please first take the time to visit the links below.





From the first moment I met Mike I was blessed by his hospitality. He was always quick to invite me in to sit, drink some tea and share in whatever fish had just been cooked....oh yeah...Mike was never far from a meal of fish! As I have stated elsewhere, one of the greatest lessons I learned from Fr. Boyd Morgan at Queen’s College was that Hospitality is the most revealing aspect of Christian character. Mike’s hospitality was second to none. I will greatly miss the greeting, “Oh, hello Father...come on in!”

Once settled away with our cups of tea, Mike was never one to mince words. The greatest gift anyone can bring to a conversation is simple honesty. Mike’s honesty and ability to speak-from-the-gut was quite refreshing. I don’t know if my collar made any difference, but when we talked I had no doubt that I was dealing with truths. When we talked about the joys of his life, his face lit up. When the conversation moved to pain, struggles and frustrations, he held nothing back, often apologizing for his ‘colourful’ language. I will greatly miss our frank conversations.

Mike was a man of devotion: devotion to his family, devotion to Mary, his wife, and devotion to his God. Mike loved and was very proud of his family. Mike deeply loved his wife, Mary - she was his life. Mike was one of the most devout Roman Catholics I have ever met, with a strong sense that God’s hand was very present all the time. All Mike’s devotion flowed out of a huge heart and an overwhelming ability to care. I have been blessed to have met such devotion in a fellow human being.

Finally, Mike loved salmon fishing, and this is the point I’d like to close with. The best salmon-fishers are those who have great patience and greater faith. The need for patience is obvious, many hours of waiting are required for a person to catch even one fish. Faith is required in order to come back to the river, time after time, believing there will be something there to catch.

That’s the way our spiritual lives usually unfold isn’t it? Coming back to the river time after time. Some days are beautiful, some are miserable, yet every day is an opportunity to experience something wonderful, something sacred.

Thank-you, Mike, for the gift of sharing a little of your life with me....and by the way, congratulations on catching “the Big One.”

Every Blessing.