Jonah, the gourd, and losing

Given that today’s first reading is the amusing and relatable story of Jonah and the gourd plant, I am re-sharing something I wrote in 2019, “‘The Art of Losing’ is About Trusting God.”

Every time this passage comes up throughout the years, I can’t help but pay attention. Jonah is such a strange ambassador for God to choose; he seems unpleasant, unlikeable, and actually really doesn’t like that God takes mercy on Nineveh. The perceived slight, combined with the demise of the shade provided by a gourd plant, is enough to make him “angry enough to die.” Yikes.

As I outline in the article, there are many things that draw me in, including when God says, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise…” How humbling. It is a response we should remember when we lose the things we did not ourselves earn - or even that we did earn - in recognition that all is actually God’s, anyway. It will all, always, go back to Him.

So anyway, have a read. And try not to judge Jonah too harshly, because we may be more like him than we would at first guess.