Jonah Syndrome

What You are Avoiding May Be Your Destiny

“A man often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” Jean de La Fontaine

Most of us are familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale, but let me do a short recap.

Jonah was a prophet in the Old Testament. God spoke to Jonah and told him to go to the people of Nineveh and preach to them to repent. If they did not, God said, He was going to destroy them.

Now, Jonah did not like the people of Nineveh and was okay with God destroying them. So, he decided to run the other way. He hopped a boat and headed in the other direction.

While he was out in the sea, a bad storm threatened to capsize the boat, placing the lives of the people on the boat in danger. Using a divination technique often used in the Old Testament, they drew straws and decided that Jonah was the one who was the culprit of the cause of the bad storm, which he reluctantly admitted. So, they tossed him overboard, where he was promptly swallowed by a whale (technically a large fish, but it is assumed it was a whale.)

Jonah spent three days in the stomach of the whale, until he finally agreed to go to Nineveh.

The whale, surprisingly, regurgitated Jonah in the very spot where God wanted him to go in the first place.

Jonah preached to the people. They repented. And God let them live.

Let’s not even address whether or not this actually happened. I have long believed that many of the stories in the Bible were written to communicate a message, and were not meant to be taken literally.

If this story was a parable, what is the message?

1.      God is kind of mean. He kills people if they don’t follow the rules.

2.      If God tells you to do something and you don’t do it, he will kill you too.

3.      You don’t really have free will. If you did, you could say no to God and that would be the end of it.

4.      All you have to do is say you are sorry, begin to do good things, and God will spare you.

This story has been used for years to convince people that they better not say no to God. They better be good, or bad things will happen.

It also has been used to manipulate people into doing what they believe God wants them to do, to avoid God’s wrath.

Years ago, my mother was in the hospital. She had a years long battle with cancer, which eventually took her life. A bit before I took the trip to Florida to be with her in the hospital, hurricane Katrina had hit New Orleans and practically wiped it off the map. Many people were displaced. There was tremendous loss of life and property. The way of life of thousands of people disappeared overnight. It took years to rebuild and many decided not to return.

From her hospital bed, my mother repeated what had been declared from the pulpit of many churches, and even by famous televangelists on worldwide television.

God allowed Katrina to destroy New Orleans because of their sins.

Because my mother was culturally conditioned to embrace the messages delivered from spiritual leaders, she was only regurgitating a very prominent message in mainstream Christianity.

If you do not live your life according to certain principles and beliefs, you will be in danger of being destroyed.

Before that, it was the gay community who was being punished for their lifestyle by the millions who died of AIDS.

These are only two examples in our recent history where Jonah syndrome was used as an example for the idea that God kills people who do not follow certain rules or do not live lives according to a certain set of standards.

It amazed me at the time that my mother didn’t wonder what she did to deserve to be dying of cancer.

Apparently, she did wonder that, because of a dream my sister and I had simultaneously after her passing, addressing that very question.

But I also want to talk a little bit about fate and destiny.

In the Jonah story, nothing Jonah could do was able to take him away from his destiny as a prophet.

If he tried to run away from his calling, fate would step in and regurgitate him right at the shores of the very place he was trying to avoid.

For years after I ran away from mainstream Christianity, I delved into every belief system that sparked my interest. I dove head first into Buddhism, Shamanism, New Age, Hinduism, New Thought, Spiritualism (which is sort of Christian but different,) and probably others I can’t even remember at the moment. When Jesus first showed up around 2012 and asked me to write a book on my journey through Evangelical Christianity to a life as a psychic medium and energy healer, I politely declined for about two years.

No, Jesus did not throw me head first into the belly of a whale for saying no.

I guess at some point I realized that my story may help others who struggle with the toxic portions of faith.

Then, after another reboot and re-release of the book in 2021, I figured my contract with Jesus was fulfilled and I could go on my merry way.

It didn’t work out that way.

Jesus kept showing up!

I had clients showing up with religious trauma.

I had dreams of being in church and addressing religious practices which were flawed. In some of the dreams I said no, and was promptly replaced by someone who said yes.

In my meditations, Jesus would show up. He was everywhere.

I had religious wounds of my own which I had left unaddressed.

Now, it seems, my Guides who I have been working with for years have taken a back seat to this group of Masters, Jesus being one of them, who call themselves the Brotherhood of the Light.

So, in a small way, I can identify with Jonah.

No, there is no group of people who I wish God would destroy.

I am not in fear for my life if I say no.

But every corner I look around, there is the group of people who I most want to stay away from.

When my husband and I first got married and moved into our first house, every single neighbor on all sides were all born-again Christians, who don’t always appreciate my line of work. And here I was, announcing myself as an alternative healer and psychic medium.

Apparently, I needed to address my wounds. Until I did, I was going to run into one around every corner.

Here are some thoughts to ponder.

What are you avoiding most in your life? Are there people you want to avoid? Is there something you feel compelled by some Divine force to do, and you are not in the least bit interested in doing it?

What are your ideas about God and judgment? Do you believe some Divine force targets certain character flaws and exacts judgment?

Sometimes, we call on the law of Karma to do the same thing.

We see injustice and we wish that some calamity would fall on the perpetrator of crimes.

I do believe that eventually Divine Justice balances the scales, but I do not necessarily wish it on people who, in my eyes, deserve it.

I do see how people suffer when they cannot let go of a wrong done to them or someone they love.

I see people who display character traits of family members they most despise.

If we take the religious indoctrination out and look at the story devoid of the mention of God, how often do we wish bad things on people who we deem to be “bad?”

If we are called upon to do something that would assist someone who we don’t necessarily like or even agree with, would we do it?

If the person who we despise most in life was laying on the side of the road, dying, would we stop to help?

One of the most profound lessons I learned after I left Christianity was when I attended a Shamanism class on depossession.

I was interested in how other cultures handled what I now call “non-beneficial conscious energy” but what I used to call “demons.”

I was amazed at what I learned.

My teacher, Dana Robinson, said words I will never forget.

“We treat all spirits with love. No exceptions.”

I had never witnessed any belief system until that class that treated unwell energy with love.

This completely changed my life!

All life forms deserve love.

In this context, what do I think about the Old Testament God who was willing to destroy whole segments of people who did not follow his laws?

Not a fan.

What do I think of the God who may destroy cities who house people who do not call themselves Christians? Or sends a disease to kill people who love differently than I do?

That is no God I am associated with.

I believe in the Force of Love. All life and conscious or less-than-fully-conscious energy deserves love. And love is how we deal with them all.

We love. No exceptions.

So nowadays, I am not avoiding any particular groups of people, even if I suffered wounds due to faulty programming. I welcome them into my life.

In my monthly gathering, I always say at the beginning of the meeting: “The only rule is love. If you can love people who may look different, be different, or believe different, then you are welcome here. If you can love, then you are welcome here.” Not everyone stays. And that is okay.

How has Jonah syndrome showed up in your life?

Can you identify with Jonah in some area of your life? Have you ever wished harm on someone you considered evil? Have you ever run away from your calling or mission in life? Have you ever felt abandoned in the symbolic belly of a whale and knew it was due to some character flaw you did not want to face or some calling you did not want to answer?

What are your ideas of the Divine? Do you fear a vengeful god who may exact calamity on anyone who does not follow the rules? Are you afraid of that judgment coming on you if you veer outside of the lines of acceptable behavior?

These are questions that may require some thought and inner contemplation.

Changing the way you think about things you have always believed may take a little time. Be gentle with yourself and admit that there is possibly another viewpoint that deserves some consideration.

If not, don’t immediately assume the worst.

Entertain the idea that everything is not what you think.

Love is all there is.

Let us all love one another, despite any differences in our spiritual viewpoints. Let us harm none. Let us acknowledge that we are all a work in progress. It may take a little time to reprogram ourselves to a new understanding of the Divine who is Love.

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