In the Belly of a Fish

Jonah is the name of one of my students this term. Every time I see him I am reminded of the big fish, the vessel that carried Jonah in the Bible to Nineveh, where the Lord was sending him.

Maybe because of Jonah, my student, I’ve been thinking a lot about Jonah, the Bible character, in the past few days.

There are ongoing debates whether the fish was a whale, a shark, or simply a big fish. I’ll leave that to scientists and theologians.

What makes Jonah a very fascinating character for me is his stay inside the belly of a big fish for three days and three nights.

The Bible tells us that while he was in there, Jonah was transformed. He did all the things Christians ought to do: he talked to God; he praised Him; he reflected on his condition; he realized his mistake; he asked for forgiveness for his stubbornness; and he finally obeyed his Master.

The fish then was his sanctuary, his haven, his prayer room, and the holy ground where God made his presence felt.

Here’s where I now draw a crude parallelism. I sort of feel like Jonah when I am in my workroom—a very small place not much bigger than the belly of a big fish. But here, when I write, the room’s smallness makes me feel like I am in a sanctuary, a haven, a prayer room, and a holy ground where God makes His presence felt.

When one is alone, shut off, and protected from the roaring and undulating ocean which is our world, we come face-to-face with ourselves; our aloneness makes our thoughts so much clearer and the rub-a-dub of our heart so much louder, making us keener to discover the grace that tells us where Nineveh is.

Do you have a place where you feel like you are in the belly of a fish? I know you do.