Let me start out by stating that I am not religious. I think man created religion, in order to create power and rank for himself, but the result was an institution that breeds hatred and division. I do believe in God, and I believe in Christ, and they in reality created the possibility of a RELATIONSHIP in hopes of ABOLISHING religion. There are a few open-minded people like me out there—ones who understand love for ALL. Loving your neighbor & not judging them. So, no religious labels for me please. I like to remain untitled, and live a life open to follow Christ’s example, wherever that may lead me.

In John, chapter 21, he depicts the story of how Peter had been fishing all morning and had not caught a single fish. Christ saw this from the shore, and instructed Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. After Peter had done this, he caught so many fish that he was not able to carry them all in, although his net did not break. The story is referred to as “the miraculous catch of the fish.” The number of fish was 153.

I was initially exposed to this passage one night in Virginia by someone on TV who was using it to explain the Law of Place. How we could be doing the right thing, just at the wrong place. I began to dig a little deeper. This was the beginning of God’s call for me and my family OUT of our comfort zone of family, friends, work, and three businesses in the Northern Virginia/DC Metro area, into Austin, TX…some 1,600 miles away, where we knew not a single soul (save for a few elementary school contacts)

While the theories for the significance for the number 153 are varied (just Wikipedia it), it has been clear that this number has shown up multiple times in my life ever since I decided to take a leap of faith and follow the current of the Universe into the desert of Texas.

What the 153 Project is for me, is a constant inquiry into not only what I am doing, but where and how I am doing it. Many people can be exerting their efforts, casting the nets, and yielding ZERO results. Why is that? Are they in the wrong place? Are they doing the right thing? Do they want to give more generously, but instead spend their time and money on themselves, thus leaving their nets empty? Do they cast the net of their bank account into some corporation, instead of investing in themselves? This list goes on and on, but the point is, when we try hard to do it our own way, we’ll always come up with an empty net.

The initial launch of Project 153 will be me randomly selecting homes with 153 in the address, and then dropping off a set amount of groceries at their door step. The first story from this week amazed me, (check “My First Time…”) and it motivated me to start this blog, so I look forward to continuing these phantom grocery store trips & seeing what the outcome will be. What do I get out of it? It’s just pretty darn cool to see miracles. Maybe one of these days I’ll knock on a door and say high, but it’s way cooler to do it in “secret.”

I’d like to document any random act of kindness if it’s done to me as well. Let 1-5-3 be a landing page for pay-it-forward sorts of stories.

As it evolves, it could turn into something else, but this project is more of a way to build community and relationships, and to see how God/the Universe can work when we make LOVE and being GENEROUS our motivations. And to see just how many fish our nets can hold when we listen to where we actually need to be casting them.