It's not just a fragrance from Calvin Klein. Obsession is what drives Sonia Young, a woman from Tennessee, to dress in purple, live in a purple-decorated house, and drive a purple car. The Purple Lady, they call her.

Obsession. It's what drives some people to build huge banana sculptures, and others to attempt to cross every one of the world's suspension bridges. It's what motivates folks to fly kites as big as king-size mattresses, and to carve life-sized wood sculptures of the Last Supper.

Actually, that particular obsession would provide a nice backdrop for today's Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Susan Sheehan and Howard Means report on the people who enjoy these off-beat pursuits in a book titled The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer. They tell 40 strangely compelling stories, including that of a man who has an ambition to eat at every McDonald's in the United States, and that of a young woman who turns a passion for baking into the winning of more than 3,000 ribbons at the huge Iowa State Fair. Yes, you heard right: 3,000 ribbons.

Where would the prophet Jonah fit into this collection of odd individuals?

Like the Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer, Jonah has an obsession. His obsession is ... himself. He wants to go his own way and do his own thing, free to pursue his passions. "It's all about me!" Jonah shouts to the heavens. "Without being Jonah I don't think I have an identity!"

But God has another idea.

" Go at once to Nineveh, that great city," says the Lord to Jonah, "and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me" (Jonah 1:2). Nineveh -- a city that is located in what is now northern Iraq.

" Now wait a sec," thinks Jonah. "That doesn't fit my plan. How can I pursue my passions and continue my personal quest for happiness and fulfillment if I'm down in Nineveh, crying out against a bunch of losers? Besides, this command requires me to meddle -- it violates my own freedom, plus the freedom of the Ninevites. I'm not gonna do it! I've got to be free! I've got to be ME!" So Jonah goes down to a seaport called Joppa and hops on a ship headed for Tarshish, in the exact opposite direction; he is absolutely determined to flee from the presence of the Lord (v. 3).

He doesn't get very far.

Once Jonah's cruise begins, the Lord hurls a great wind upon the sea, and a mighty storm threatens to break the ship up. The mariners are afraid, and they begin to throw the ship's cargo into the sea, to lighten it up. Into the water go all the precious possessions that people simply love to collect: Roller blades, marbles, Noah's arks, bonsai trees, Tiddlywinks. All the collectibles that they thought gave their life meaning go overboard, in a desperate attempt to avert disaster.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

The sea rages on, growing more and more tempestuous, and soon the blame falls on Jonah, who admits that he is fleeing from the presence of the Lord. "What shall we do to you," ask the mariners, "that the sea may quiet down for us?" Jonah looks, for the first time, beyond himself and his personal obsessions, and suggests to the men, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you." The mariners resist this sacrificial suggestion at first, but finally accept it as a last resort. Jonah is tossed into the sea, and sure enough: The sea grows calm.

The mariners become converts, instantly, and offer a sacrifice to Jonah's God (vv. 4-16).

In the Banana Sculptor book, a man named Jim Dreyer, the All-Night Swimmer, reports that he has crossed all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. His first swim, across Lake Michigan, took almost 41 hours. He discovered he could swim in his sleep.

If only Jonah had known!

In this case, salvation comes in the form of a fish -- a large fish that swallows Jonah up. And in the belly of that fish Jonah spends three days and three nights, until the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land (1:17-2:10). Not even "extreme traveler" Gig Gwin, who has visited every country on Earth, ever made an international arrival like this one.

After wiping himself clean, Jonah hears a second word from the Lord: "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you" (3:3). Jonah is beginning to sense that his life is not, in fact, "all about him," and so he sets out and goes to Nineveh, an exceedingly large city, one that takes three days to hike across. He heads straight into the middle of the city, crying out the words, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (v. 4).

The original command of God has not been changed by Jonah's adventures on the run, on the sea, in the storm, and in the fish. The only thing that has changed is Jonah's response to God's call: This time, he says "yes."

Maybe this story is all about vocation.

It doesn't appear that The Purple Lady understands the meaning of vocation. She dresses in purple, lives in a purple-themed house, drives a purple car and says that being The Purple Lady gives her a sense of identity. But where's GOD in all this? It is not at all apparent that Jonah, at the beginning of his book, grasps the concept of vocation either. He hears God's voice, but then bolts for Tarshish, trying to get as far as he can from the presence of the Lord.

The word vocation comes from the Latin vocare, meaning "to call." A vocation is a call from God, one that we are challenged to respond to with the gift of our lives.

Jonah finally gets it ... after the fish spits him up. He realizes that he cannot escape the call of God, not by running toward Tarshish, not by eating at thousands of McDonald's, not by carving The Last Supper out of wood, not by crossing the world's suspension bridges, not by building huge banana sculptures, not by collecting marbles or Noah's arks or talking birds or anything else.

Not that having hobbies is a bad thing. You may, in fact, find them to be very enjoyable. But your ultimate happiness, your ultimate satisfaction, your ultimate contentment, your ultimate peace is ONLY going to be found in responding to the call of God. That's your purpose in life. A passion for purple is never going to do the trick.

Jonah responds to God's call by crying out against the people of Nineveh, and then the most amazing thing happens: They believe God. They proclaim a fast, and everyone, great and small, puts on sackcloth (v. 5). Jonah had thought that his work as a prophet would cramp his style, crush his happiness, cut into his personal fulfillment, and completely violate his own freedom -- plus the freedom of the Ninevites.

But guess what? Jonah the prophet is a smashing success. He enjoys universal acclaim as a proclaimer of God's message, and through his courageous words the people of Nineveh are given a chance at new life. When God sees what they do, how they turn from their evil ways, God decides not to destroy them (v. 10).

This happy ending for the Ninevites simply could not have happened unless Jonah had responded to God's call. It's all about vocation.

Are we ready to respond ourselves?

The book of Jonah is a very short book, and it is up to us, I think, to continue the story ourselves. We pen another chapter in this book whenever we respond to God's call with the gift of our lives. When we choose a line of work that puts people ahead of profits. When we honor the Lord through efforts that are honest and constructive and just and life-affirming. When we give of our time and talent and treasure to the advancement of Christ's work in the world. When we respond to an invitation to enter the ministry, to join a praise team, to embark on a mission project, or to teach a church school class. When we create a workplace in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect, trust and love. When we shape a life for ourselves that contains real balance, creating space for a variety of important activities: job, family, friends, church, clubs, volunteer work, exercise, sports, hobbies, and even killing time. (James A. Autry, Love & Profit [New York: William Morrow and Company, 1991], 156, 198)

There's nothing wrong with sculpting bananas. As long as you put vocation first. Amen.

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