Vengeance is mine says the Lord
and Jonah as all men are inclined
wanted a stake in vengeance.
What right have we to question
Jonah's claim to anger.
No matter how civil we think we are
don't we still embrace an eye for an eye?
Do we not seek to punish,
seek retribution for the victims?
Can we truly forgive unconditionally?
We mock Jonah's concern for a plant
yet we ourselves are shamefully guilty
of self absorbed trivialities.
Ethiopia cries out with swollen bellies,
Indians die in the streets
as we worry which restaurant to choose.
Our own children die because of inconvenience.
We demand death for one of God' own,
in our eyes undesirable, unforgivable.
Are we all Jonah's?
Shouldn't we be seeking God's compassion
Rather than hiding under a cloak of self-righteousness,
fearing his true forgiveness?

July 1996

Jonah chapter 4 Jonah's Anger, God's Reproach

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