Jonah 4:1-11 (NIV)

¹ But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. ² He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. ³ Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

⁴ But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. ⁶ Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. ⁷ But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. ⁸ When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

The Unpredictable Plant: The Challenge

“There are many elder sons and elder daughters who are lost while still at home.” - Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming

New Wine: Making a Way 

Matthew 26:36-46

”³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame. -Hebrews 12:2a

Communion : The Promised Land 

“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.” Wheatley, Margaret J. Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1992.

“The Church is not merely an institution; she is a way of being—a mode of existence. The mystery of the Church is deeply connected to the nature of humanity, the world, and even the very being of God. To be a member of the Church is to participate in the life of God, to reflect His image, and to exist as He exists. This is not a moral accomplishment or a personal achievement. It is a relational way of being—with God, with others, and with creation—an event of communion. Because of this, it cannot be lived out by an isolated individual; it is only realized within the shared life of the Church. -Zizioulas, John D. Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. Translated by John Zizioulas and edited by John Meyendorff, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985.

Entering In

This gift of speechless silence is the gift of re-creation: “Behold, I do a new thing.” (Isaiah 43:19)..... By standing in the gift of the uncompromising attention of Jesus we are rendered transparent to the all-demanding call of the Father. In this way we grow into the likeness of the creating and calling God and, by grace, find ourselves capable of giving space and attention. - Creation and Calling: Theology, Vocation, and Work (forthcoming book by Tyler Womack)