Jonah & his plant: a parable for us?

           

            "Darn it! Why won't this thing work?"

            "Who put that cup of coffee there where it could be knocked over?"

            "Who on earth left that shoe where someone could fall over it?"

            Have you ever been surprised at your reaction when something very ordinary doesn't go as expected?  Maybe frustration approached real anger when you spilled your latte or the keys you just had in hand disappeared.

            I got to thinking about this when I re-read the story of Jonah and the gourd plant. (Jonah 4:5-11). He was angry because God was so willing to forgive the people of Nineveh. In Jonah's mind, they deserved strict justice, not God's mercy; in his mind, God was wrong.

            Steaming with frustration, Jonah rigged a shelter from the sun and desert wind and settled down to rest. Then God caused a leafy bush to grow up overnight to give more shade. Jonah was delighted.

            The next day, though, God provided a worm to destroy the plant; Jonah's pleasure died with the plant. Jonah expressed his frustration: "It's better to be dead than alive!"  God asked him: "Why are you so angry?" and reminded Jonah he wasn't the one responsible for the plant; it was God. God then reminded the prophet that if he could be so concerned about one little plant, shouldn't God be concerned about a great city with its 120,000 people and many animals?

            This really hit Jonah in a vulnerable spot because earlier (4:2) he'd admitted that God's willingness to forgive "those people" was the reason he ran away from the mission in the first place. His frustration and anger were coming from a dark place in his heart, one that judged easily and made personal priorities his prime considerations. God's vision and his were poles apart.

            There are also places in the New Testament where human and divine visions don't mesh, as in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. When the owner paid the late-in-the-day workers as much as the early morning ones, many had trouble seeing that  mercy & compassion could balance the scales of  hourly wages.

            Both these examples show me that surface reactions to circumstances have the capacity to reveal  our hidden value system. Where are our emotions? What is it we are holding on to that skew our vision and temper? If our blood comes close to boiling because of lost keys or spilled coffee, where is the heat really coming from? Are we angry with someone we need to forgive? A sibling? A co-worker? Ourselves? Are we struggling over the same issue Jonah struggled with, putting compassion over justice, mercy over revenge?

            Maybe this season of Lent is a good time to consider our reactions to ordinary circumstances. Are they in harmony with their source, or could they be out of balance?  If they are, we're not alone, and Jonah may have something to say to us. Have an insightful Lenten season.

          Sr. Colleen Winston, OSB