Daily Prophets
Day 209
“God cast a great wind and the sea became such a great tempest, the boat was in danger of breaking up…sailors cried out, each to their own god, they threw the cargo overboard…Jonah went down to the hold and fell asleep. The captain woke him, cried out to him, “how can you be sleeping so soundly?”. They said to him, what have you done to bring this misfortune upon us…”(Jonah1:4-6,7).
Immersing myself in Jonah this year, as part of my exploration of the prophets, I am amazed at the lessons left unlearned year after year. While I know “when the student is ready, the teacher appears” to be so very, very true, it is incredible to me that all of us have left so many lessons unlearned over the years, it is terrifying to me that I have left so many lessons unlearned from Jonah and the rest of the prophets.
God sends a great wind to let Jonah know that he cannot escape his service to God. God is giving Jonah an opportunity to so the next right thing, return to his mission and stop trying to escape/hide. We are experiencing many climate changes, more hurricanes, heat, cold, rain in places that don’t need more and not in places that do need more, etc, yet we are unable to move the needle because, like Jonah, many people just want to run the other way. It is truly amazing to me how people are able to run away while the world is heating up, while the world is flooding, while the world is in a drought. Yet, as I think about it, I have only to look at how we try to escape the consequences of our behaviors all the time by blaming another human being for our choices. Whether it is our parents, ‘the man’, the government, our employer, our spouse, our children, we are always looking for a scapegoat so we can run away from our responsibilities and our mission. I am understanding why Jonah is read on Yom Kippur even more, Jonah is running away from the mission/service God has given/sent him on, just as we have run away from God, our mission/service that God gave to us and we committed to last year.
The sailors, who were not Hebrews, decided to be in the solution, they are the Anti-Jonah. Despite their fear, despite the odds, despite their despair over what was about to kill them, they threw the cargo overboard-this was the purpose of their voyage, this was how they were getting paid and they said life was more important than money. Can you imagine that? Who says that anymore? Certainly not Big Pharma, not the Koch Bros, not Wall Streeters, not the elected officials who take the donations from people and due their bidding at the cost of the lives of their poorer constituents. Yet, these sailors, these pagans, are in the solution of throwing away their money and calling our to their gods. Sure, they may be idols, they may be false, and the sailors call out because they have faith and belief. They are not going to wring their hands and just worry, they are active in the solution of the problem/challenge. We spend too much time caring about the ‘bottom line’ and are willing to bend our knees and participate in the idolatry of money to be in the solution. It is time for us to think about the tempests, the strong winds that are blowing and come together to be in the solution. No one way solutions anymore, no discounting the humanity of another(s) because of the way they vote, their gender, their ethnicity, their religion, their race, color or creed. The sailors are teaching us we are all in this together and we must work together to solve our challenges, we must each do our part and call out to God as we understand God to gain the strength to overcome pettiness and pride, envy and enmity.
The captain is incredulous that Jonah can sleep during these great upheaval. The boat is thrashing about, the men are screaming out, the tumult is earsplitting, yet Jonah sleeps. This speaks to Jonah’s character more than most people realize. Jonah is an arsonist, he creates drama, he creates chaos and then stands back and watches as everyone else is affected by it and he just doesn’t care. Jonah is the person who can cheat you in business and sleep well at night because he believes in his smartness, his cleverness and his boldness. The Captain, however, is the man who cannot believe anyone would not be helping, he is unable to fathom the depths of Jonah’s coldness, narcissism, and inability to care about anyone else. The Captain is the Anti-Jonah, he is the person who cares deeply for the people in his care, he is concerned for his ship, his crew and his passenger. He is calling out to Jonah to do his part, to pray to his God and to help solve the challenge of surviving this terrible storm/seas. We need to see ourselves as the Captain instead of Jonah for us to survive the storm and the tempest we find ourselves in, personally, communally, and worldly.
I have been Jonah, I was Jonah for the 20 years I was a drunk and a thief. I am remorseful for emulating him. In recovery, I and everyone else in recovery, strive to emulate and be like the sailors and the Captain. I am bothered by my errors, I am not able to sleep when there is a tempest/storm brewing around me, I am not running away from life, my soul’s calling, nor the cries of people in need, nor does anyone in recovery. In recovery, we seek out ways to be of service, we seek our part in activities, right and wrong, and we continue to grow. I/We don’t need to “get even” as we once did, I/we only need to find community, serenity, wholeness. I don’t have to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of another to feel strong, I don’t have to exploit the weakness/kindness of another to feel powerful. Today, I just have to continue to be the Anti-Jonah and serve God and the people I can. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark