Jonah

I’m still thinking about Jonah, and the models of leadership it shows. You know by now that Jonah decided to run away from God rather than facing the people it was his job to face, while the leaders in Ninevah looked at the world around them and decided to change what they were doing,

It is back-to-school week in Ankeny. I received an email from the Principal Wichman at Prairie Ridge today laying out the back-to-school schedule. He also reminded us to check Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for important announcements (apparently wanting to make sure that all of us parents also get to experience that Fear Of Missing Out we have heard plagues generation Z), but invited our emailed questions and laid out the policies that are responses to it.  Principal Wichman and his team have identified that we are in an impossible situation and done the work to make the best of it for us.

At the University of Iowa, they’ve worked to make as many of the classes available online as they can, and thinned out the classrooms somewhat. At the same time, I saw University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld’s note to students reminding them that it was their choice to come to campus and therefore their responsibility to not think and act as if they were invincible, and his sternly-worded letter to local bars reminding them of state-mandated rules for distancing, suggesting that the outbreak in Iowa City was their responsibility. It was clear where his responsibility began, even though the giant spike in cases that has been reported in Iowa City was predicted by, well, everyone. Meanwhile, UI Athletic Director Gary Barta spent two minutes with athletes in the four sports he is cutting and then left the call without answering any questions or hearing their reactions, in a message that he did not want to be accountable for his actions. 

At the state level, the governor’s office has taken charge of all communication about not only coronavirus policy, but also testing and data, away from the IDPH. But, as you may have read, there have been significant problems with the reported data, and the governor’s office did not take responsibility for its accuracy, instead dismissing and minimizing the errors and urging individuals and institutions to stop trying to understand how the state arrives at the numbers and take them at face value, even though they report 40% fewer cases in Dubuque County than have been confirmed over the past two weeks.  In contrast to Prairie Ridge, the message from UI and the state has been, “individuals, take responsibility. As leaders of institutions leading and guiding you, we will not.” A message God was sending to Jonah, and by extension to us, was that no choice is truly individual. Each choice affects others, and we do bear some responsibility. But those choices also come within the framework of institutional leadership. Without God leading Jonah, or the rulers in Ninevah modeling and calling for mourning, and changing their ways, bad things happen. When Jonah faced the responsibility for leadership, good things happened.