My wife was recently sent a link to a video of a little girl telling the story of Jonah and the whale. Sounds cute, but my goodness, once this little cutie gets wound up does she ever take it on. You won’t forget the story after this performance, done without any notes.
Now what does this have to do with a life and family news service? First of all, this is my blog section, so I get to write and present things here that are different from the usual LifeSiteNews grind. But as well, I think this video has a lot to do with the state of the world today which seems to cry out for lots of Jonahs to tell all the developed nations that they must “change their wicked ways”.
More important, this particular story is about the negligence of religious and other leaders who seem everywhere today to be too afraid to tell the hard truths about the wrong behaviours of those they can influence or who they have responsibility for. These leaders fear rejection, loss of status, discomfort, anger and criticism – instead of fearing God.
Their negligence is leading to more and greater suffering and destruction – possibly even the great destruction of war or violent persecution. Things are not looking good right now, especially in the Middle East and in Europe and in the US economy and social and political realms.
But the good news from the story of Jonah is that if we and our leaders do what we know God wants us to do, God’s love will prevail and his mercy will be extended to us.
This little Baptist Shirley Temple telling of Jonah and the Whale is good for us to hear and ponder. It’s about the same old human nature, and action and consequence, that has happened since the beginning of time.
We just need to be reminded and encouraged to not be afraid and to do what we must, disregarding what others may say or do to us – and trust in God alone.