Jonah's Fish

If you are not familiar with the story of Jonah first read Jonah from the Torah/Bible.

Summary

God told this guy Jonah to go down to a particular town, Nineveh to preach.  Jonah was afraid so he fled to a safer destination, Tarshish.  While on the boat to Tarshish, God sent a violent storm on the ship.  The ship was tossed around and the sailors became full of fear.  The sailors did everything that they knew to save the ship. They got to the point they were so afraid they began to throw misc. object over-board and pray to their various Gods. Ironically, Jonah was not afraid at all in this situation.  He went into the center of the boat and went to sleep.  The sailors eventually discovered him sleeping, and seeing he was not afraid, they knew he must be a man with unique insight into life and God, so they asked him to say a prayer on their behalf.  Then the sailors thought about the situation.  Their clumsy, yet ironically correct logic, led them to believe he, being very different than them, must be the source of their problems.  So they asked him, “Now make clear to us what is your work, and where you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”  And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, a worshipper of the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” And the men were in great fear, and they said to him, “What is this you have done?" For the men had knowledge of his flight from the Lord because he had not kept it from them. And they said to him, "What are we to do to you so that the sea may become calm for us?" For the sea was getting rougher and rougher. And he said to them, "Take me up and put me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you: for I am certain that because of me this great storm has come on you.” So the men threw him into the sea.  Suddenly the storm calms.  As the story goes, a “great fish” (possibly whale) takes Jonah into its mouth and Jonah was inside the fish for three days and nights.  Inside the fish Jonah prays and pledges his life to fulfill God’s calling for him. The fish delivers Jonah safely to the shore and Jonah goes on to preach in Ninevh.

Commentary

Consider the similarity of the following story:

An inner voice tells a young man he should pursue a certain dream. For fear of failure, or need of money, or to do what pleases others, the young man pursues a different avenue and winds up in some career, company, or job that is not his passion. This works for a period of time.  But eventually difficult times come and that career, company, or job is threatened.   Some sort of panic eventually ensues and a series of self destructive and erratic decisions are made.  Seeing the writing on the wall, eventually the man leaves or is forced to leave.  At first this seems to be a capricious and destructive decision.  At first to the man it seems his life has become the worst. He is in the heart of his own darkness, the deepest of pits, the direst of situations.  In fact, this may actually be true.  But slowly, eventually, the man discovers that life goes on, that a better job exists for him, or that with his free time he can pursue something different, something more interesting to him, or more aligned to his unique proclivity, talent, and situation in life.  He has seen the worst and survived it. He has done what he never envisioned or thought possible before. His worst nightmare has come and past, and he as awaken to find a brighter future.   Finally, the man has found the security and happiness that previously escaped him.

Observations

• I find it ironic that Jonah is less afraid of a giant storm in a boat full of freaking out sailors than he is of pursuing his calling. 
• If you do not belong somewhere, not only do you know it, but probably everyone else does as well.
• While naturally we want to avoid difficulty, great difficulty can actually force us to find the answer to deep questions about our life, its purpose, and our values.   
• Sometimes to get where you need to be you need to make a leap of faith.