Yes, I'm a Christian, but this is not my take on the Jonah story ...nor do I believe that story was an exaggeration as many stories go.

Then there's the fishers of men that Jesus encouraged the apostles to be.

No exaggeration there either.

If they were to stretch their imagination a bit on how many people filled the town square, it perhaps would motivate some who like larger numbers to motivate their participation ...or to help brag about the large support of something they support, but I doubt that came into play at all.  I don't see it then, as it is now, where some tell of how packed or filled the area for their event was in Washington D.C., around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

No, it's not that either.

This does begin more like a UFO story than a fishing story. Two of my brothers were riding together in a pick-up truck ...well, I don't know if it was a pick-up truck, but they were riding together. And they saw the same event ...years ago.

One brother now says that what the other brother describes no longer seems yo describe what he saw.

It would seem to me that the description of what they had seen would be most vivid right after the event, but as the years drag on since that shared sighting ---of whatever it was that they saw---the details seem to be more vivid, at least by the description given by one brother.

Admittedly, the one brother could be forgetting the details, while the other brother could remember it as if it were yesterday.  Yet, it is also possible it is just like a typical fish story ...that often grows.

If any of my brothers are embarrassed by my mention of this, or how I am mentioning it ...let me just say that I have four brothers, and they can all see I have not mentioned here the names of the two.  If they so choose, each of my brothers can deny this. Two of the brothers may not know of this story, but they probably have heard the story just as I have ...so, if it gets out which brothers I'm referring to, it is perhaps because they have less tact than I do in the telling of it.

I, myself, am not exempt from all this. I also admit to having a fish grow ...not the story, but the fish.

It was the first time I had caught a Northern Pike.  I don't know what the legal length was, or if that has changed ...so, it was either 20 inches, or 24 inches.

I remember it as 20 inches, or so I think I was told at the time (correct or not).  I just know I was excited about catching such a large fish ...especially since we were not even getting a nibble.

As I recall, my catch was an inch short ...at 19 inches.  I couldn't seem to bring myself to accepting the fact that it was that close and I'd have to throw it back ...so, I smashed the head of the fish on a rock to stretch it that extra inch.

There was probably no game warden anywhere near where we were fishing, but it made me feel better that my fish now measured at the legal limit ...yet, it didn't, because I knew the truth.  And I commonly don't like to stretch it.

But, sometimes we seem to beat our own head ...and we don't even consider it a stretch, it just works for us.

It appears often harmless and imaginative for youth, but for us adults it can become worrisome.

Let's take a class of 10 year olds, or let's say, a 4th grade class.

The teacher has them divide themselves according to their friendships, cliques, or however their peer groups define themselves.

Uncontested leadership roles emerge from two groups.

               Some of you may even imagine this.

The two groups appear to be equal, but a count is taken.

One group has two more students than the other group.

Just by the mere presence of the visible groupings, defenses begin to be noticeably evident.  The divide draws comparison, challenges, and competitiveness ...which actually could quickly develop into conflict.

All this transpires within a class that appeared rather docile, if not merely disinterested a few short minutes prior.

The teacher's assessment is that there has to be order ...so she intervenes. "This group has 31 students ...this other group has 29.  The team with 31 students will be the leadership group. Your leadership group will agree upon a name for your group, and choose a leader."

As the leadership group eagerly selects names to vote on for their victory group, the teacher sees it is evident that the other group would likely not concede to be led by those who barely outnumber them.

The leadership group quickly agrees to call themselves the Best Leader Totally ...and it seems they don't really have to discuss who their leader will be ...as 4th graders usually already know.

Realizing the other group would never come around to following ---the lines of commitment already drawn, and the air filled with the spirit of competitiveness ---the teacher spontaneously decides to change her plan, and allows the other group to pick a name for themselves also.  

In this group, the leader had already been evident also ...and he proudly announces, "Team Opposition Leader!!" of which the entire group unanimously agrees.

The teacher says, "Okay, we will use initials to shorten the group names ...so, this Best Leader Totally group will be referred to by BLT, and the Team Opposition Leader will be TOL.  But, remember ...this is my class, so don't think any opposition leader can oppose me.  And the same goes for the best leader totally group ...get out of hand, and I'll have you for lunch."

By their reaction, the teacher doubts anyone caught her joke. 

Sort of sounds a little like the politics of today ...without the teacher there to maintain some reasonable standards. But, I'm not going there either. My point is going much further back ...way back.

TOL:  "I wasn't given enough time before you put a stop to the heavenly rebellion. With a little more time, I would have been able to get more than a third of them to follow me ...probably even more than half. Yet, no one is going to challenge you now."

BLT:  "Not one person will challenge me now?  What is it that I now hear?"

TOL:  "I'm not challenging ...I'm reasoning. You say you know our hearts, but I don't believe you. If you knew my heart, then I believe you wouldn't have created me."

BLT:  "And how do you reason that?"

TOL:  "Think of it ...one less angel, only one less, that you could have opted not to create, and this whole entire ugly rebellion could have been avoided.  But, now you have a large number of us who you've yet said what you're going to do with, and worse yet, the majority of mindless followers that you do have ...have no, or one choice.  They follow you, or else ...and you've yet to say what the 'or else' is.  Follow you, or die ...or worse??  Those blind followers are like prisoners.  I'd honestly rather die!!"

BLT:  "So, you feel I failed to prove anything to you??  What are you proving by your suppositions??"

TOL:  "If you would only allow me, I could prove what I've said.  But, that would do no good now ...now that you've already shown what your response is going to be each time.  You've eliminated freedom of choice by ending my campaign."

BLT:  "Your campaign is just beginning.  But, you say my power is unfair.  Well, I'm certain you would readily use yours ...yet, since you are the one who thinks it is unfair, you will not be able to use yours as you wish."

A few short days...then in a moment, human beings are created.

(https://www.christianbook.com/the-evolution-of-confusion/meiner/9781615797455/pd/797455)

                  ***If you have the courage to continue on this path***

(http://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781615797455)

Or from me: at P.O. Box 300072, Drayton Plains, Michigan 48330   &(http://whenwelastleftyou.blogspot.com/)

(http://www.textbooks.com/The-Evolution-of-Confusion/9781615797455/Meiner.php?CSID=AUWS2JQBBMDZZUOCDMDDOKSDB&dHTxt=ISBN+1615797459&TYP=SBJ&PART=PRINT&TXT=)