“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth…When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:1-5, 10)  I love the little book of Jonah.  In a truly outrageous manner, it tells the story of a God who is far more ready to forgive than his preachers are ready to proclaim that forgiveness.  Jonah will be completely horrified by the repentance of the Ninevites and perhaps even more horrified by a God who will go to such lengths to love and save his enemies.  We do seem to live in a time of great division these days; where it is much easier to make enemies than converts.  But what if God actually loves the people whom we don’t?  What if our God is ready and able to save even the least likely (to our way of thinking, anyway) candidates?  What if the Lord is asking you and me to go to the places where they live and share with them the old, old story?