Jonah 2:1-10 (NIV)

¹ From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. ² He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,

  and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

  and you listened to my cry.

³ You hurled me into the depths,

  into the very heart of the seas,

  and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

  swept over me.

⁴ I said, ‘I have been banished

  from your sight;

yet I will look again

  toward your holy temple.’

⁵ The engulfing waters threatened me,

  the deep surrounded me;

  seaweed was wrapped around my head.

⁶ To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

  the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, Lord my God,

  brought my life up from the pit.

⁷ “When my life was ebbing away,

  I remembered you, Lord,

and my prayer rose to you,

  to your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who cling to worthless idols

  turn away from God’s love for them.

⁹ But I, with shouts of grateful praise,

  will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed I will make good.

  I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

¹⁰ And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

The Bottom of the Bottom 

Down into the water, down into the fish’s throat, down into the bottom of the sea. 

Fishers of People vs. Fishfood

The Gift of Desperation

“God’s address is at the end of our rope.” -Dallas Willard

“Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it—then you are ready to take certain steps.

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.” -Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. 4th ed., Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, 2001. (Ch. 5 How It Works.)

Swallowed up in Grace

Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of a big fish. The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the grave also. -Matthew 12:40

For a New Beginning

John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.