Thursday, July 24, 2008

What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been......

Before I get into my blog topic, I want to expand on my last Blog. Reading the Blog it seems I was a little harsh. I was and probably will be in the future too! The reasoning is not because I'm disrespecting anyone, I'm actually very respectful of the whole deal, I just HURT really bad when this type of thing happens. I've been in situations that most of you never will experience and that's not a bad thing. To see another Kid die that affects my community, especially after seeing the families that are left behind to clean up the mess and to tie up loose ends, I get just plain PISSED OFF!!! I saw my people mourn over Dunni, that hurt. I saw the people closely involved continually getting in trouble and never really being punished. I've seen so many young folks die and the contributing factor is just being stupid. They know it will kill you because they've seen it in their friends deaths. I Hurt because I see the irresponsible actions and I know how hard it is to get turned back around. I'm not one of those that is totally against having fun, but I know that moderation with how you do it is necessary. Just be respectful to yourself and to those you care about! Now with the story.......

I imagine that everyone has heard the story of Jonah and the whale. This story is deep and has a few different schools of thought.
The story basically is about this dude Jonah. God tells him to go preach to his enemies and it scares Jonah so he runs away. Jonah goes way out of his way to get away from God and ends up on a boat and a storm comes up. As Greg Laurie (A popular minister) says, it was a "Correcting" storm meaning it corrected Jonahs direction, behavior etc. The Crew of this boat starts throwing stuff overboard trying to save themselves, because they are being pushed into the shore. Jonah tells them that it was his fault that they should throw him over and save themselves. Well they did, and were saved. That's where this big fish swallowed Jonah and dropped him off right back at the spot where he started running away. Then he went and did Gods work.
Looking at this story I immediately look at it as a story of life. God talks, we stray, we confess, we are "born again", and we go do Gods work. Did Jonah really survive in a Whale for 3 days? I know the story is about a man in a fish, and God can make anything happen, so I'm saying it's possible. Did he get swallowed be the fish from the start? There are some really big fish out there and some strange things have been found in their bellies.
One thing that jumps out at me is the Old Testament story of Salvation. If you look at Jonah repenting from his running from God, then the Being born again part point toward Christ. The Fish swallowed Jonah and had him in its belly (symbolism of a womb). Then Jonah is regurgitated on the beach (birthed). From that point on he lives for God and he was forgiven.
When Jerry Garcia sang of a "long strange trip" he had no clue did he!
Peace my People and have a great weekend!
Lee

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