On the Road to Taparah

A tall young man stumbled into view as my path was clearly about to converge with his. I took him to be around eighteen-years-old. He was quite thin and I guessed that he hadn't eaten for a while. His clothes were dirty and his longish brown hair was matted with clumps of mud and other debris. He smelled like a pig farm. His head hanged low like a beaten dog. Because of his preoccupation with whatever was troubling him, he was unaware that our paths were about to cross in about three steps...two...one.

"Hello," I said to the young man. He was a little suprised by my unexpected appearance. He said nothing but merely wiped his right arm across his face. Whether it was perspiration or tears he wiped, I could not tell. "Are you headed for Taparah (ta-PA-rah) or Fazar (fa-ZAR)?"

"Taparah," he finally mumbled.

As we walked side by side, I tried to make some freindly banter, if mostly to fill the quiet and awkward gaps in our conversation. "I am going to Fazar, but I will be glad to accompany you as far as Taparah. It will be good to have company."

"I'm afraid I won't be very good company," said the young man.

"You needn't talk," I told him. "After so many miles alone, just walking with someone is company enough. I am Shadur (sha-DUR). What do like to be called, may I ask?"

"I am Ariah (a-RI-ah), . . . the wicked son of Obid of Taparah," he said with a sound of self-derision in his voice.

"So your family lives in Taparah," I said in my most uplifting voice. "Have you been away long?"

"It has been nearly two months since I have seen my father's home," replied Ariah.

"I noticed by the road you were on that you must have lived in Cantara (can-TAR-a). I hear it's quite a lively city."

"It's lively, all right. Wicked is a better word. I will never return there." He spoke angerly.

I could tell it was painful for Ariah to talk about his adventure in Cantara, so I decided not to pursue it any further. Several moments passed in silence. Then he spoke.

"Forgive me, Shadur, I know we have only just met, but would you have any food to spare?"

"What about a piece of fruit?" His eyes widened at the prospect. I reached into my bag and pulled out a couple of dates and handed them to Ariah. He reached eagerly for the small dates and popped one into his mouth.

"Thank you," he said between bites. The second date followed quickly behind the first. A look of satisfaction came over his face. It was the happiest I had seen him.
"I apologize for my discontented behavior earlier," said Ariah.

"Think nothing of it. I am glad I could offer you some nourishment."

"Because of my wickedness," said Ariah, "I have been without decent food for a long time."

Ariah seemed well-mannered, even cultured, though his present state contradicted my appraisal. His constant reference to his wickedness was puzzling. Was he an escaped prisoner or slave? I guess it was my interest in his life that gave him a certain security, because it was not long before he vounteered to tell me about his experiences in Cantara and why he was now headed for Taparah.

"My father, Obid, is very wealthy. He owns much of the land surrounding Taparah. Though there are many servants and hired hands on the farm, my father still runs the farm with the help of my brother and myself.

A couple of months ago, I was with some of the workers and they were joking that since I was the younger of the two brothers, and that my father is still strong and healthy, it would be many years before I would ever inherit a portion of the farm as my very own. They were laughing about what an old man I will probably be when I could finally call myself a landowner. Until then, I would always be the younger son of Obid of Taparah. I was furious!

"Now, of course, I realize those workers were ridiculing me out of jealousy and to put resentment between me and my father. At the time, however, the thoughts those workers placed in my mind kept tormenting me. I stayed angry for days. My father, who had detected my attitude, asked me more than once if there were anything wrong.

After supper, a couple of days later, I built up enough courage to confront my father with my frustration. 'Father,' I said, ' I want my inheritance now!' My father was absolutely shocked at my demand.

'What has brought this on?' he asked patiently.

'I have been thinking about this for a long time,' I told him. 'I am tired of the farm. I want to be free and I want to go my own way. It will be many years before I receive my inheritance otherwise, and I do not wish to wait.'"

Ariah paused. I thought he was crying, but then he said solemnly, "Oh, how much I would give now if I could take back those words."

As Ariah told me his story, he frequently wept. A few moments passed in silence before he continued.

"Reluctantly, my father agreed to my demand. I think I now know why he agreed, but I was too cocky then to realize that I was making a costly error. He said that it would take a few days to sell some livestock and some land in order to give me my wealth in gold. Once my brother found out what I was doing, he became angry and refused to even speak to me.

While I waited for my gold, I haughtily bragged to the workers that had razzed me, that I would be moving to Cantara and living there with my new wealth. They congratulated me, but snickered and mocked me behind my back. I was not to be deterred. I had my inheritance coming and I was going to take it and live the good life.

"So, that's when you moved to Cantara?" I asked Ariah.

"Yes. That was the day I ruined my life," he answered contritely. Before I left that morning, I went to see my father.

'Ariah,' said my father, 'though you have your inheritance in those bags, this is still your home and it will always be your home. I love you. Be careful.'

"His eyes welled up. I didn't even kiss my father goodbye. I just shook his hand and left quickly. I left home with my precious gold– nearly $25,000. My brother was standing by the barn and saw me leaving, but he turned away and went inside without saying a word to me."

"So, Ariah, " I asked, "was Cantara all you thought it would be?"

"As you said earlier, it was a lively place. When I arrived, I knew no one. I had always lived on the farm. I had only been to the small cities of Taparah and Fazar. Cantara was much bigger and had many more people. There were people in Cantara from places I had never heard of. I think because Cantara is a seaport, traders and merchants from all over the world must stop there.

"I went first to the inn and asked for the best room they had. The proprietor looked at me as if to say, 'How can a kid afford our best room?' I assured him that I was rich and could afford any room he had. That evening, I offered to buy everyone in the inn a meal; all the food and drink was on me. Everyone cheered. Big, burly sailors slapped me on the back. Beautiful women surrounded me. I suddenly had dozens of friends.

"One so-called friend, named Kaziz (ka-ZEEZ), hung around me constantly. He was a talker and a salesman. Pretty soon, I was buying into all kinds of business proposals that, according to Kaziz, would make me four times wealthier practically overnight.

"For several days, I followed this same pattern. Buying meals for complete strangers, sleeping in an expensive room, and helping Kaziz with his business plans. I bought fine silk clothes and jewelry. Sadly, I also found myself in such evil situations, I will not even relate them to you, Shadur."

"One evening, on the way to my room, I was stopped by two women I had met before. They wanted me to take them to supper. I explained that I had already eaten and that it was late; I was tired, and wanted to go to my room to rest. Curiously, they insisted, so to keep my purported friends, I went with them. What I learned later was that the two women wanted to keep me from returning to my room because their accomplice was stealing gold and jewelry from my room!

"After only three weeks on my own, I had either spent, lost, or had stolen $20,000!
Kaziz disappeared with the money I had invested in his business ideas. It was then I realized that my inheritance was nearly gone.

"I cut back on buying food and drink for everyone. I took a cheaper room and secretly sold some of the jewelry I had been wearing. The number of friends I had dwindled to only two or three. It was hard to give up the life of a rich man. Over the next month, in spite of knowing how quickly my inheritance was disappearing, I had spent it all. It was all gone. Everything my father had earned and given to me as my portion of his estate, I had squandered in only six weeks.

"A week ago, Kaziz came back and I asked him for my money. He acted as if he had never known me. I begged him for my money. He had me thrown out of the very inn where I once had been its favorite guest. I was desperate. I had no money, I had lost most of my possessions, and I had to eat and find shelter.

"I was directed to a farmer just north of Cantara who was hiring farm hands. Of all things, he was a pig farmer! I reluctantly signed on. My job was to feed and water the pigs each day. The stench was awful! I was allowed to stay in the barn at night with the other poor workers. We hardly had anything to eat. In fact, one day, I was so hungry, I tried to eat a handful of the raw corn I was feeding the pigs.

"It was then I finally realized what a tremendous fool I had been. Here I am, not even twenty-years-old yet and I have already spent the fortune I would have eventually inherited. I had no home, no food, a lousy job, and no prospects for the future. The only solution was to return home in shame. But, would my father take me back? He said before I left that his home was still mine. I thought, it can't get worse than this. Maybe he would at least hire me to work on the farm. I know he treats and feeds his workers far better than the pig farmer in Cantara. So that's why I am on this road to Taparah– I'm going back to my father."

I had listened to Ariah's sad story with interest. Sure, he had been a foolish rich kid and had made some very bad decisions, but he also had integrity. He was smart enough to weigh his options, but not too proud to ask his father for help.

"Look Ariah, we are not far from Taparah," I said pointing to a hill in the distance.

Ariah had not looked up very much while telling me about his misadventures in Cantara. Ariah raised his eyes to see where he was. He seemed to recognize the familiar surroundings. He looked a little anxious, then spoke.

"Taparah is just over that hill," Ariah said excitedly. "What you see here – all of this – belongs to my father!"

"So you are home, Ariah."

Ariah's countenance took on a disconsolate look. "No, this is no longer my home. This is my father's home. I gave up my home here. Now, I must ask my father for a job and hope that he will at least hire me to work for him."

Ariah and I parted company at that point. He turned off the path through a field that he obviously knew. I continued towards Fazar. When I reached the top of the hill, however, I glanced over my shoulder to see Ariah approaching a farm in the distance. An older man in the field also saw Ariah coming towards him. The older man shielded his eyes from the sun in order to identify the approaching stranger. When Ariah was about 100 yards from the farm, the older man dropped what he was doing and began running towards Ariah. The old man was Obid.

The two men embraced for several minutes. I saw Ariah bow on one knee before the older man, but Obid pulled him up by his shoulders. They turned towards the farm and the last time I saw them, Obid had one arm around his son and was waving with his other hand for all the workers and servants to come out to welcome back his son. Ariah was home again.

The End

Tiberias

Tiberias was almost out the door when he heard his mother's voice and stopped. "And just where do you think you're going, young man?"

"Outside, mother, to play," said Tiberias.

"You were going down to the seashore, weren't you?" she said in a scolding tone.

"Yes, mother, but I'll be with Nathan. "Nathan was a fisherman in his late twenties with whom Ty had struck up a friendship. Ty wanted to someday be a fisherman like Nathan; mending nets, hauling fish to market, all the things that fishermen do.

Ty's mother towered over her nine-year-old. With her hands on her hips, she spoke sternly, but with compassion, "Tiberias, it's not that I don't want you to be with Nathan, but you mustn't sneak out to do it. You must always ask, so I will know where you are. Besides, you know your chores must be done before you can go down to the seashore."

"But mother," Ty pleaded, "I've done them."

"You've swept the entry?"

"Clean as a whistle."

"Did you fill the water pots?"

"To the tops."

"Did you beat the carpets"

"Both sides."

"Well, you still didn't ask permission to go down to the shore."

"Mother, please, please, please, may I go down to the shore to see Nathan? He should be coming in from fishing soon and I want to see his catch."

A hint of a smile crossed the face of Ty's mother. "Very well, then, but I want you home before dark. Before dark, do you understand?" She had not even finished her sentence before Ty was running down the sandy hill. She watched from her porch as the boy ran happily toward the Sea of Galilee. Then a thought occurred to her and she called after him, "Tiberias,. . . TIBERIAS."

The boy stopped and yelled back,"Yes, mother?"

"How many fishermen are there with Nathan?" she shouted.

"Three," yelled Ty with his hands cupped to his mouth.

"I'm sure they will be hungry. Why don't you take some bread to them for supper?"
That day Ty's mother had baked ten loaves of barley bread. They were small, but ten was more than she needed.

As Ty chugged back up the hill to his house, Ty's mother went inside to get the bread. She met Ty at the door. "Here are five loaves, three for Nathan's helpers, one for Nathan and here's one for you, too."

Ty smiled as he watched his mother wrap the small loaves of bread in a cloth and place them in a basket.

"Thank you, mother. These will be a great supper for Nathan and the crew." With the basket securely in hand, Ty took off for the shore once more.

When Ty reached the spot along the shore where Nathan usually pulled his boat ashore and unloaded his catch, Nathan was nowhere to be seen. Ty looked out across the Sea of Galilee. He spied several fishing boats, but none was Nathan's. Ty set the basket down and decided to wait for Nathan. While he was doodling in the sand, another young fisherman named Achim (Ah-KEEM) came by carrying a net of fish he had just caught.

"Good afternoon, Ty. Looking for Nathan?" asked Achim.

"Yes, I'm waiting for him," said Ty, "Have you seen him? He's usually back from fishing this time of day."

"I'm afraid you're going to have a long wait today. Nathan and the others are staying out on the sea tonight. They're trying a little night fishing," explained Achim.

"Are you sure?" asked Ty. "I brought them some of my mother's bread for supper."

"I'm sorry, Ty, but I talked to him this morning before he left and that's what he told me he was going to do. I know you're disappointed. I'll tell you what: Take your basket of bread and a couple of these fine perch I just caught to your mother and have a good supper tonight. Maybe invite some of your other friends, too."

Achim pulled out two pan-sized perch from the net and handed them to boy. Though Ty was disappointed about missing Nathan, he knew there would another time. Besides, those fish would make a great gift to his mother and maybe help her forget that Ty had tried to sneak out of the house.

"Thank you, Achim," Ty said gratefully.

"Think nothing of it," replied Achim and waved goodbye. Ty put the fish into his basket as Achim disappeared over a sand dune.

While Ty had been looking for Nathan's boat that afternoon, he had not noticed that he had wandered farther down the coast than ever before. It was getting late, but Ty lingered by the seashore that he loved so much.

After a while, Ty heard noises like a large crowd of people talking just over a rise in the sand. Curious, Ty made his way up the sandy hill until he saw a huge crowd of people. "There must be thousands of people down there!" thought Ty.

Ty watched the crowd of people for a while. Everyone sat in front of a bearded man in a white robe that sat on another hill. All of them were strangers to Ty. Finally, Ty's curiosity got the best of him and he decided to join the crowd and find out why they were gathered.

He started down the hillside to find a place to sit, when he remembered he had left the basket with the fish and the bread on the shore. He quickly ran back and got the basket and made his way back to where the crowd was seated.

Ty, standing in an open area between two rows of people, was looking for a place to sit down when he heard a voice behind him, "Excuse me, young man."

Ty looked around to find a young man following him. "Yes, sir?" asked Ty who was now afraid he was somewhere he shouldn't be.

"Excuse me," the young man said again, "my name is Andrew. What's your's?"

"My name is Tiberias,. . .I mean, ah, Ty," he stammered.

"Well, Ty, my master," and he pointed to the bearded man, "has asked me and my friends to find enough food to feed all these people. When I saw your basket, I wondered if perhaps you might have some food that you would share with us."

Ty thought to himself, "Mother gave me these loaves of bread to give to Nathan and the others, but they're not here; Achim gave me these fish as a gift, so I guess I can do what I want with them." After a moment, Ty spoke to Andrew, "All I have is five loaves of barley bread my mother made and a couple of perch a friend gave me a little while ago. I don't think they will even be enough for you and your friends, let alone this crowd, but if you want them you can have them."

Andrew patted Ty on the shoulder. "You have done a great thing, Ty. Come, I want to introduce you to may master." Andrew guided the young man through the crowd, up the hill towards the bearded man seated on a rock talking to another man.

"Excuse me Philip for interrupting, but I have someone here I would like to introduce to our master. Lord, this is Ty. He has donated his five loaves and two fish to feed these people," and Andrew held the basket high in the air. "Ty, this is Jesus of Nazareth."

Jesus smiled very broadly, stood up, and placed his hands on Ty's shoulders. While still holding Ty's shoulders, Jesus said to Andrew and Philip, "Have the people sit down on the grass in groups of fifties." Andrew took Ty to be seated with a large family that was seated near Jesus.

Soon, about a hundred smaller groups dotted the hillside. Jesus then took Ty's basket and reached inside. He took out the loaves of bread and in a loud voice said a prayer of thanks and blessed the bread. Then he put the loaves back in the basket. Next, Jesus pulled out the two perch and prayed again and blessed them, thanking God for providing the two little fish.

Ty was both proud and a little embarrassed. "What are two fish among so many?" Ty thought.

Then Jesus called Andrew, Philip, and several other helpers whose names Ty did not know, to the front to begin distributing the food to the crowd. The men lined up in front of Jesus to receive some bread and fish to give to the people. They raised the front of their tunics with their hands to form a carrying place for the food. Jesus dipped his hands into Ty's basket and began pulling out loaves of bread and fish that filled each person's tunic. One after another, bread and fish overflowed from the server's garments. There was so much food!

The men serving it were generously leaving large portions of bread and fish with each group of hungry people. Ty was amazed by what he saw happening. He also knew he would have to leave soon to get home before dark as his mother had told him to do.

Soon after the last people in the back had been served, Jesus instructed the men who had served the food to borrow empty baskets from some people in the crowd. Several who were travelling to Jerusalem for Passover offered theirs for use. They finally borrowed twelve empty baskets. Jesus then told the men to pass through the crowd and pick up all the uneaten and leftover food. To Ty's surprise, it took the twelve borrowed baskets to hold all the leftovers.

Ty sat nervously torn between his desire to leave for home and wanting to see what else might happen. Andrew came over bringing Ty's basket with him.
"You did a mighty thing today, Ty. " said Andrew. "God has blessed you. Because of your generosity and faithfulness, God was able to feed all of these people from your little basket."

Ty reached out to receive the basket. Curiously, he looked inside. There in the bottom were five barley loaves and two large perch. "Thank you," Ty said to Andrew, "but I must go or I'll be late getting home and my mother will be upset."

Andrew waved goodbye and watched Ty run down to the seashore towards home.

The sky was a beautiful mix of reds and purples when Ty walked into his house.

"It's a miracle!" said Ty's mother when she saw him come in.

Ty was so astonished at his mother's statement, he nearly dropped the basket of bread and fish. "How could she know about the miracle I just saw?" he thought to himself.

"It's a miracle!" she said again with a happy smile. "You're home before dark, just like you promised and I didn't even have to call you one time!"

Ty's eyes flashed and a big smile appeared on his face. "If you think that was a miracle, have I got a story to tell you!"

The End

A Fish Story

This is one of several stories I am writing for my grandchildren. This one is about "Jonah and the Whale." I call the collection Grampa's Stories.

______________________________________

Under a clear azure sky on a bright Mediterranean day, Elihaz (e-LI-haz) and his nine-year-old grandson, Ahasurah (a-HAS-ur-ah), took a walk along the shore. The sea gently lapped the sandy beach creating small white lines of soapy froth. Soon they happened upon some fishermen who had been out fishing all night. Ahasurah stopped to watch the fishermen unload their nets on the shore near their village of Namora (na-MOR-a).

“Looks like you had a good night fishing,” said Elihaz to one of the young fishermen.

“It was better than most,” the young man replied without looking up.

“How many fish did you catch?” asked Ahasurah.

“ A couple of hundred, I imagine,” said the fisherman. “Most of them are the same kind and they're all the same size — small.” The young fisherman laughed.

Then, Ahasurah spotted a few fish in the net that were much larger than most of the pan-sized catch. “Grampa, look at those!” he exclaimed pointing to a couple of fish that were each about a meter long.

“I see them!” said Grampa Elihaz. “They’re pretty big.”

“Oh, those?” shrugged the fisherman, “We catch fish twice that big sometimes!”

“WOW!” gasped Ahasurah. “Have you ever seen a fish that big, Grampa?”

“Actually, I once saw one much bigger than that,” said Elihaz.

Ahasurah held his hands out in front of him. “As big as this?”

"Bigger,” said his grandfather.

Ahasurah stretched his arms as far as he could. “Bigger than this?”

“Much bigger.”

The young fisherman, who had not looked up once from his work, heard what Elihaz said and stopped. Interested in hearing more, the fisherman asked, “Were you once a fisherman, sir?”

“No, I’ve always been a weaver,” explained Grampa Elihaz, “but once on a trip to Tarshish, I saw a huge fish—big enough to swallow a man!”

“WOW!” exclaimed Ahasurah.

The fisherman was less impressed. Although he was young, he had been a fisherman long enough to know a “fish story” when he heard one. He believed that Elihaz was exaggerating the story for the benefit of his grandson.

“Tell us the story, Grampa,” begged Ahasurah.

The young fisherman stopped what he was doing, stood up and crossed his arms. “Yes,” said the fisherman with an unbelieving smile, “please tell us the story.”

Elihaz leaned against an upturned boat as he began his story. “It was nearly 50 years ago in Joppa, where I lived,” he began. “I was a 15-year-old apprentice weaver. I was told to take some specially woven cloth to a merchant in Tarshish and bring back the money to my employer.

The only way to get there was by boat. I found a boat, a little bigger than this one,” he said patting the hull he was sitting on, “that was going to Tarshish the next day. The trip was suppose to take all day. I arrived at the boat the next morning with a big bundle of cloth. There were eight others there, too.

“Just as we were about to push off, a man shouted, ‘WAIT FOR ME!’ He looked nervous and afraid of something or somebody. Nonetheless, he paid the captain the fare and took a seat on the opposite side of the boat from where I was sitting. When the boat was fully loaded, we shoved off to Tarshish.

“It was my first time at sea. I was a little afraid, but the sea was calm and soon I relaxed. About an hour after we left Joppa, the waves started getting bigger and the wind started blowing harder. Soon the sky turned dark gray and it began raining harder than I had ever seen. The boat rocked violently and the waves crashed over the sides. Water began to fill the boat. I was scared! But I wasn’t alone. Even the sailors were afraid. The captain yelled over the howling wind, ‘WE’VE GOT TO LIGHTEN THE SHIP, OR WE’LL SWAMP! THROW ALL THE CARGO OVERBOARD!’

“They began tossing every loose item they could find into the surging water. One man grabbed for my bundle of beautiful and expensive fabric I was delivering to Tarshish. ‘NO!’ I shouted because I was afraid I would be fired for losing the cloth, but then I realized that I could drown in the ocean if it stayed on board, so I helped the man throw it into the sea.

“Lightening the ship helped steady the boat, but we were still in a lot of trouble. All of us were praying and holding on for dear life, all except the nervous man who had gotten in the boat at the last minute. Curiously, in spite of all the confusion that was going on around him he was asleep between two supports along the right side of the ship! I couldn’t believe it! How could anyone go to sleep at a time like that!
“When the captain saw that the man was doing nothing to save the ship or his life, he was angry! ‘HEY YOU!’ he yelled. ‘WAKE UP! IF THIS SHIP CAPSIZES WE’LL ALL DROWN!’

“The man sat up and looked around. He began to cry. I thought he was just scared, but then he stood up and called to the captain, ‘This is all my fault!’

“’WHAT?’ said the captain. “Who are you and why do you think this is your fault?’

“’My name is Jonah and I have disobeyed God. I was supposed to go to Ninevah to preach God’s message, but I was afraid to go there because Ninevah is such a wicked place. Instead, I got on this boat to run away to Tarshish. As a result, all of you are suffering for my disobedience.’

“All of us looked at each other in amazement.

‘What do you suggest we do, then?’ asked the captain.

‘Throw me overboard,’ said Jonah. ‘Once I’m gone, you and the others will be safe.’

“‘Certainly not!’ insisted the captain. ‘We’ll ride this storm out together!’

The captain gave orders for everyone to help row towards shore. We all took turns rowing until we were exhausted. It was no good. We were getting nowhere and we were in serious trouble.

Jonah suddenly stood up and put his foot on the side as if he were going to jump into the water.

“STOP THAT MAN!” shouted the captain.

We all grabbed Jonah’s legs and pulled him down. At that moment, a huge wave crashed down on us and nearly swamped the boat. It was a losing battle. We fought for control of the boat for another 30 minutes, but it was no use.

“LET ME GO!” shouted Jonah to the captain. “Believe me, captain, it’s the only way to save this boat and these other men!”

The men began to murmur. One of them said, “Let him go, captain! Maybe he’s right.”

The captain was loath to do as Jonah said, but he also knew that the boat would not withstand the storm much longer and that all of us were certainly going to drown. The captain’s face grew very sad as he spoke. “Very well, then, Jonah, we will do as you ask.”

The captain motioned for the other men to help Jonah stand. The captain looked up to heaven. With the howling winds blowing his hair and the salt water stinging his eyes, he prayed out loud, “May the Lord God forgive us for what we are about to do.” He then gave the signal and the men pushed Jonah over the side into the sea. Jonah instantly vanished beneath the water.

By this time, both Ahasurah and the young fisherman were completely captivated by Elihaz’s story. “What happened then?” asked Ahasurah wide-eyed.

“Despite the storm still raging around us, we all were sad and sat quietly. Some of the men even cried because of the sacrifice that Jonah had made for the rest of us. Little by little the storm calmed. We bailed out all the water and finally got control of the ship. We never made it to Tarshish that day. The storm had blown us so far off course, we put into a small village just to rest and recover from the ordeal.

“What about the big fish you said you saw, Grampa?”

“I’m coming to that,” said Elihaz.

Three days we stayed in that village. The captain and crew made some small repairs to the boat and soon we were ready to return to Joppa. The weather was perfect this time. It was a day like today. The sun was shinning brightly and the sky was blue.

Midway to Joppa, I saw an island in the distance that, because of the storm, I hadn’t seen on the trip over. The closer we got to the island, the captain became more curious about something he saw. He had been past that island hundreds of times without stopping, but something this time piqued his curiosity.

Just offshore, we could see that a big fish had beached itself on the sand. Now, when I say big, I mean big. The fish was as taller than me and at least three or four times as long as the boat we were in! It’s skin was dark blue or black, with white spots on top and white on its belly. It had tiny black eyes and an enormous, wide mouth. We were so curious about the giant fish, we didn’t even notice a man laying on the sand in front of the fish. He was apparently unconscious. As soon as we saw the poor man, two men jumped out and swam to shore to help him. We suspected that he had washed up on the beach after surviving a shipwreck during the terrible storm three days earlier that had nearly cost us our own lives. The rest of us watched from the boat as the captain guided it towards the sandy beach.

By the time we landed and got out of the boat, the men who had swum to shore had revived the man. We never imagined that the man and the giant fish were connected in any way. The poor man looked terrible! He was coated in white, frothy slime that matted his hair and beard. He had seaweed and grass all over him. He also smelled really bad! Because of his condition no one recognized him until he spoke.”

“Who was it?” asked Ahasurus.

“It was Jonah, wasn’t it?” said the young fisherman who by now had devoted his full attention to Elihaz.

Elihaz smiled. “You are right! It was Jonah!”

“But I thought you said Jonah drowned?” said Ahasurus.

“No, I said he disappeared in the sea.”

“So how did he get on that island?”

“I know,” said the young fisherman excitedly. “He rode on the back of that big fish and when the fish beached himself, the man crawled onto the sand.”

“Well, you’re pretty close,” answered Elihaz. Jonah did ride the fish to the island, but not on top.”

“Did he hold on to the fish’s tail?” guessed Ahasurus.

“Well, actually, Jonah rode inside of that fish!”

“Oh, yuck!” said Ahasurus and wiped his mouth with his hand

“That’s impossible!” declared the young fisherman. “Nobody could live inside a fish.”

“That’s what I would have said before I saw Jonah,” said Elihaz. “If you had seen the size of the fish and the condition that Jonah was in, you would have believed it also.”

“How did Jonah live inside that fish, Grampa?”

“Jonah said he didn’t remember much about the horrible experience. According to him after we pushed him overboard into the sea, he tried to swim, but the sea was too rough. He started gulping water and thought he was drowning. Then, he became unconscious. It must have been then that God provided that big fish to swallow Jonah whole! Jonah said he remembered nothing else until the morning we found him. We figured that the fish had beached itself and couldn’t return to the sea. The last thing the fish did before he died was vomit and as he did, Jonah rolled out onto the sand.”

“YUCK!” said Ahasurus as he put his hand on his stomach and squinted. “Then what happened to Jonah, Grampa?”

“He was terribly weak, so we all helped him to our boat and gave him some fresh water and some bread to eat. On the trip back, Jonah explained to us how that God had spared his life to give him another chance to preach to the people of Ninevah like he was supposed to do.”

“Did he go to Ninevah?” asked Ahasurus.

“I believe he did,” answered Elihaz. “I never actually saw Jonah again, but a few years later, I heard from travelers of a great spiritual revival that occurred around the Ninevah area. It was said to have been lead by a prophet of God who preached mightily in that region day and night.”

“It had to be Jonah,” reasoned the young fisherman. “May I ask you something, sir?”

“Of course, young man.”

“Does God always give people a second chance like he did Jonah?”
“Well, I am not a rabbi, but I have heard the scriptures read enough in my lifetime to tell you this. There is no promise of a second chance, but God is longsuffering, patient and kind. My advice to you, young man, is that if you know God is calling you to do something, do not wait! There may not be any more fish in the ocean that the one that rescued Jonah.”

Before the fishman could say anything, his captain called him. “Thank you, sir. I shall try to remember what you have said.”

Elihas slapped his legs with the palms of his hands. “Well, Ahasurus, we have rested long enough. We need to go home where your grandmother probably has lunch waiting for us.”

He took the boy by the hand and together they retraced their foot steps along the beach that had all but disappeared from the waves washing onto the shore.
Ahasurus lifted his other hand to his forehead as a shield against the bright midday sun. Elihaz watched his grandson scan the sea.

“What do you see?” asked Elihaz.

A moment passed before Ahasurus spoke. “Do you suppose there are more big fish like saved Jonah left in the sea?”

“If God needs one, Ahasurus, you can be sure one will be there.”

The End