I’ve often been intrigued by this part of the Jonah story, when Jonah has been swallowed by the big fish. He feels so alone, he’s at the bottom of the ocean, he’s scared, he doesn’t know how he’s going to get out of this mess. In the midst of this loneliness and uncertainty, he prays, he cries, he thinks. Most humans have had this experience (minus the fish). To whom do we cry out? What do we call to mind? Where do we direct our prayers?

I have made a series of papercuts on this theme, with excerpts of Jonah’s plea from inside the fish.

This text is:

“From the belly of Sheol I cried out, And You heard my voice.” (Jonah 2:3)