A reading of the Book of Jonah hit me with a small revelation about the nature of human compassion and how it has not changed so very much amongst the Lord's followers.

The reader will recall that Jonah was sent by God to give the Assyrian city of Nineveh some really bad news. Jonah, like a lot of Christians today, chucked a wobbly and ran in precisely the opposite direction. He even endangered a ships crew and made them send their cargo (and profits) to the bottom of the sea. The Lord had to work unbelievably hard to get this prophet of His to get on board with the plan. That is, giant fish and a few days inside it to reconsider attitudes. Some, like me, would shaking their heads and wondering why this moron just did not get it.