Fish Lesson

(Image from Catholic Exchange)

Today the preacher meditated on the original fish tale, the Book of Jonah. From Sunday School I had only remembered the 10-second version: Jonah disobeyed God and was swallowed by a great fish or whale. The fish coughed him up ("vomited"), and Jonah survived and repented. But, of course, there's more to the story than the headlines.

In the first chapter God instructed Jonah to preach to the wicked and powerful Ninevites. Jonah immediately bought passage on a ship and fled. God sent a "great wind", and Jonah realized that his presence was jeopardizing the ship. He told the sailors to cast him overboard.

After he lived through the encounter with the fish, Jonah went to Nineveh and told the people that their wickedness was courting destruction. To Jonah's surprise the Ninevites turned from their evil ways, and God spared the city. Jonah became angry at God because a) he hated the Ninevites and wanted them punished, and b) Jonah felt he was made to look foolish.

Jonah, like most of us, is a mixed bag of virtue and weakness. He runs from his duty, then is willing to lose his life for others by being cast overboard. After he is saved, Jonah wants to see Nineveh destroyed for his own prideful reasons.

When men are poor and weak, they encounter obstacles that are often remembered fondly for the growth that was engendered (insert Nietzsche quote here). But perhaps the greatest test is how we behave when we were proven right and are on the top of the world.