Jonah was a reluctant agent of mercy (“What If Jonah Came to Us?” by Jane Yoder-Short, Dec. 9). Jonah is not mentioned among the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11, but Samson and many other flawed Old Testament figures are.
I thought about this when I recently read Jonah. His last words seem to tell us he would rather have seen Nineveh destroyed. He objected to God’s mercy. He did not relish it.
To Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”
From Micah: And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Poor Jonah. He liked the idea of being great but missed the part of blessing and mercy.
How many Israelites liked aggressiveness rather than mercy? Am I more concerned with myself than caring for another?
Paul S. Kurtz
Ephrata, Pa.
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