Kafka's Midrash on Jonah

Norman Weinstein

The sole way to avoid being swallowed up    by the world    is to render yourself    indigestible.

Of course by doing so    you end up    with a worse fate    since when the earth refuses to swallow you, heaven must.

& since heaven, by definition, can digest nothing still resisting its stranglehold

you end up at the merciless world's mercy    & will only note be digested    by concentrating every waking thought    heavenward

So the faithless find    faith    by turning away from all exit signs