Prayers From Kippers

Kippers are herring, a small oily fish, split from tail to head, gutted, salted, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood.

Reflecting on Lowestoft’s traditional herring industry, folks who worked on and remember the fishing fleets, local remaining smoke-houses, led me to ‘kipper-prayers’ this morning:

Happy Memories: Mum occasionally gave us kippers for breakfast. I remember our family sitting together round the breakfast table… the tea-pot, toast, home-made marmalade, family prayers. I’m grateful.

I pray that we’re creating happy memories for friends, children and grandchildren.

Once Experienced Never Forgotten: The smell and taste of a kipper is very distinctive. You love them or hate them, enjoy them or avoid them.

I pray that my unique distinctiveness will be a joy to all who experience me.

The Insult: Calling someone ‘a kipper’ is a local insult, implying that, like a kipper, they’re two faced and gutless.

I pray that I’ll be consistent and courageous in standing up for what is right, good and wholesome.

Red Herring: Kippers are red herrings… A ‘red herring’ misleads to a false conclusion… English politician and journalist William Cobbett used the term in 1807; he’d used a kipper to distract hounds from chasing a rabbit.

I pray that I won’t distract or mislead others from truth.

Well Preserved: The process of ‘kippering’ was used before refrigeration was available to all. It preserves herring and prevents them from spoiling.

I pray for all who feel spoilt… deteriorating with age… not too well preserved.

Beneficial: Kippers are highly nutritious, a good source of fat, protein, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins, especially B12 and D.

I pray that those I meet with might be beneficial to me, and I to them – giving health and strength.

Discovered By Accident: Legends say that kippers were an accident. Elizabethan playwright Thomas Nashe wrote in 1599 about a fisherman from Lothingland (near Lowestoft). Hanging his herring too close to his fire, he ‘discovered kippers’.

I pray that we shall discover good things… in the places we least expect them!