I've been thinking this morning about reactions to 'troubled times' and Jonah's reaction to the call of God to go with a message to the people of Nineveh.  Jonah ran away 'literally' (see earlier post to understand use of quote marks) but there are other common repsonses to unpalatable readings of the signs of the times (part of the prophetic task) which are tantamount to running away...

'Someone Else's Problem' - the SEP field invented (discovered? ;-) ) by Douglas Adam's in Life the Universe and Everything was, as I recall, used to remove Lord's cricket ground when it was in the way of some intergalactic issue.  It is an easy response to tough issues, and can emerge as a blame culture (someone else is at fault) as a a 'them' culture (someone else ought to put it right).  Denial of our own responsibility (and accountability) is a form of running away.

'The Noble Order of the Ostrich', as it is known in my family.  If we ignore it, or pretend it isn't there, it will simply go away.  Denial in its simplest form - denying it exists or will happen.  Running away by hiding.

'Arranging Deckchairs on the Titanic' - avoidance strategies, tinkering with the bits that can be done rather than facing the real issue.

There must be others that could be added, but three is enough for any sermon!  Truth is that, more often than not, it seems that there are ostriches arranging deckchairs at Lord's cricket ground.

The prophetic task is not just to look outwards at the world and upwards at God, but also inwards to our own attitudes - and that sometimes this is almost more scary than the others.