Several years ago, I wrote a song called The Belly of the Whale. It was based on the familiar story from the first three chapters of the book of Jonah. In the story, Jonah is called to preach to the people of Nineveh, he runs away from God, is swallow by a whale, is spit up after three days and he finally goes to Nineveh to preach where the people turn to God. My song stopped at this point in the story. This is also the point where most people stop when they are telling the story of Jonah. But there is one more chapter in the book.
The forth chapter tells us that Jonah was mad at God. It says he decided to go into the desert to die. While he was there, God causes a vine with large leaves to grow and shade him, preventing his death. He gets comfortable with the vine and when it is killed by a worm, he gets mad again. When I read this story, I thought that Jonah was just asking for trouble. I thought about the phrase “cruising for a bruising” and thought this would be a good way to express the trouble Jonah was looking for with God. I imagined that Jonah leaves the desert and strolls into a bar. He sits down at a piano and sings the song I wrote to a crowd. The song Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ from the Lord is a confession by Jonah. It focuses on a part of a Bible Story that we usually pay little attention to. We like to think of our Bible heroes and as steadfast and faithful. But the Bible is filled with stories like this where God uses people filled with anger and doubt. I find it comforting that these people are more like me.