Job and Me

If you have been following the Daily Office, then you know that we are into the sad story of Job, a good guy who has had one calamity after another as Satan and God have it out over whether Job will be able to withstand the temptation to turn away from God. If you had your family and livelihood wiped out, and were covered in boils and sores, you might be tempted, too!

I have not had it as bad as Job, but my recent bout of health problems involving my stomach coupled with much stress from some of my extracurricular doings with PFLAG and Faust, and the usual tension that arises from being self-employed in this economy has given me a keen appreciation for poor Job. When things are going poorly, and they just keep looking bleak, covering yourself in ashes and crying out to God may seem like the only thing one can do.

I haven't done the ash business, but crying, pleading, in hopes that I will see some light in the darkness... yes, I've done that.

One of Job's buddies, who initially was sitting shiva with him, tries to offer some insight to his friend.

‘See, God will not reject a blameless person,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouts of joy.
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.’
Job 8: 20-22

OK... Bildad the Shuhite maybe shouldn't have opened his mouth. "God will not reject the blameless person"? I could see Job asking, "What? Are you saying I'm to blame?" But even in his bumbling attempt to "help" his friend, the idea that God will "yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy" is hopeful. And hope is the one thing you can't lose when you're depressed and down in the dumps.

As Jesse Jackson says, "Keep hope alive!" And keep looking for the light in the darkness.