My fascination with whales became a bit of a running joke when I met my wife, Elspeth. My favourite work of fiction is Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
If I was to pull something from the Disney catalogue to watch, it would probably be Pinocchio. 

The great white whale has become a metaphor for so many things, from the unfathomable beauty of nature to humanity’s misguided hubris. 

During the most recent lockdown, I found myself tramping through the woods of Calverley yet again on one of our routine walks. Each day looked decidedly like the last. I really felt that I, like Jonah, was in the belly of the whale.

Jonah is a book that has so much to say about spiritual renewal, mission, our place in God’s world, and our relationship with each other.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to sketch out some thoughts on why this book means so much to me and how it might direct us as restrictions lift and we, like Jonah, are ‘vomited up onto dry land’.

Walk with the prophet. Ride the whale. Meet God anew.
Richard Jobes

#1: The Satirical Prophet
#2: Cowering Below Deck
#3: What have You done?
#4: The Very Human Evangelist
#5: The Big Fish Tale