June 14, 2021 Good afternoon, ( This week’s reflections will begin with the book of Jonah. A man was spit out by whale along the Atlantic coast, near Cape Cod last week )
” The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because itswickedness has come up before me.” JONAH 1:1-2
Jonah lived in the eighth century B.C. The book is written after he has all these experiences, since it is not written in the first person. Did the writer leave anything out ? We do not know what he heard from the community, so we have the story that we have. Why was this story written for the community of God’s people ? And it is really not about a whale. If you read the short four chapters, write down one main theme or idea that you get from the story.
So, Jonah is a prophet . God tells him to go to Nineveh and deliver my message in person to the people there. Prophets have a role to play in the community, and generally are respected if they do not tell ‘you”, that “you” are sinning. The community turns on them easily, and often the leaders do not like them either.
I assume that this is not the first prophecy for Jonah. Maybe he is tired of telling people that they are sinning. He is tired of not being liked. I can understand that. Maybe he has a family. But, he gets on a boat to Tarshish to run away. This is like us going to the end of the world to relax. I would go to Istanbul , Turkey to get away from God. When God’s word is tough to deliver, I might like to go to Tarshish too. And what is a harsh word from God today ?
I was mad at the Prime Minister today, so I wrote him an email. Israel has a new Prime Minister. And our Prime Minister said that Israel is a bastion of human rights in the Middle East. Does he not know about the West Bank and Gaza? Either he is lying and does not care for the lives of Palestinians or he does not read his security reports. Why does he not go to Gaza? I do not think Israel would let him go there. And we wonder why young angry men drive into innocent Muslims in Canada ? The Prime Minister cares about human rights when it is safe, but not for Palestnians . I was so mad, I needed to get it out.
Fred
Soaring like Vultures lifted up by unseen Hands Trust, silent enters my fears Monica Pieper Landoni 2021 (
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