Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 32

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Thirty-three

Elihu continues with his brash dialogue, and he doesn't appear to appreciate the irony of his own claim of righteousness which is similar to Job's.

As we are reminded of Job's request for a conversation with God over the injustice of all that has happened to him, Elihu reminds us that God speaks in ways that are not as obvious as speaking with other people.

This may be helpful for any reader of Job who has also asked the question, "Why is this happening to me?"

God may speak to us dimly in our dreams.

God also may speak through rescuing us from certain death.  We know this doesn't happen to everyone and that eventually, our prayers seem to go unanswered as no one lives forever.  But we do know that sometimes people do recover and Elihu relates that this can also be a message from God.

In a way, Elihu may be telling Job, "You are lucky to be alive!"

At this point in his grief, Job may not be feeling it.

Job is more likely to sing the old chorus from Hee Haw:

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Is it possible that we have blessings or grace touch our lives constantly, but because of other circumstances, it is muted or blunted to our recognition?

Elihu is indicating that this is how God may see Job

It may be more difficult to hear from an impertinent young person who seems to know it all.  But our inability to receive it from this source just might be highlighting our own issues with pride.  Of course, Elihu mentions pride as a sticking point for many of us in verse 17.

Rats!  He's probably right.

Prayer for today:

Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand.  Amen.

Prayer by William Penn, Quaker, Pennsylvania colony, 18th Century

“Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!” from "Hee-Haw” (1969 -1992).  Lyrics by Bernie Brillstein, Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth.  Recorded by Buck Owens and Roy Clark.

Photo by Ansgar Scheffold on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 31

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Thirty-two

We have the first appearance of Elihu who is younger than Job and his three friends.  It may be important to note that Elihu was not listed among those who sat with Job for a full week in silence before speaking up.

Elihu has observed decorum and allowed his elders to speak up first.

However, it seems that he has held back as long as he possibly could!

Is this how Job sees Elihu?

His impetuousness reminds me a bit of Mark Twain's quote, "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." 

He seems frustrated that Job has had the final word, seemingly to silence his three friends once more.  It could be that they were worn out.  It could be that they had compassion on their friend and refused to argue any longer.  It may be that they were considering Job's point of view.

Elihu believes that Job's friends are not properly standing up for God's defense.  And so, he must speak or he will burst!

What's interesting is that if your worldview is that God will punish the impertinent, why would you feel the need to defend God?  It may be that Elihu desires to become the instrument of God's justice!

Job has lifted up what that justice looks like in the previous chapter - providing aid to the stranger, the naked, the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.  Notice that Elihu isn't bursting at the seams to help these as instruments of God's justice!  It may be a lot more desirable to set this arrogant old man in his place (who is still grieving the loss of his children).

Why is it more preferable to argue than to help someone?

This chapter is helpful in that we might ask ourselves, have I been caught up in outrage?  And if so, how is this easier than engaging with my neighbors in need?

Prayer for the day:

All-merciful, tender God, you have given birth to our world, conceiving and bearing all that lives and breathes.  We come to you as your children, aware of our aggression and anger, our drive to dominate and manipulate others.  We ask you to forgive us, and by the gentle touch of your Spirit help us to find a renewed sense of compassion, that we may truly live as your people in service to all.  Amen.

Prayer by Janet Weller, England, 20th Century

Photo by Julian King via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 30

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Thirty-one

Job is going to make sure that we know just how innocent he is by listing all of the various violations that he might see his neighbors doing.  Of course, these are all listed in various places within the law of the Hebrew Bible.

He starts out with two of the 10 Commandments in that he has not coveted (Commandment 10) relationships outside his marriage or followed through with these illicit desires (no adultery, Commandment 7).

When Job speaks of abstaining from falsehood, he is covering Commandment 9 in bearing false witness.  Leviticus 19:35-36a mentions specifically, "“You shall not cheat in measuring length, weight, or quantity.  You shall have honest balances, honest weights" which would also take care of "do not steal (Commandment 8).

It is good to see that he doesn't mistreat his slaves.  Notice, that there is no question on the moral failing of slavery at this juncture.  This seemed so ingrained in society.  Exodus 21:20-21 limits the abuse that one can inflict upon one's slaves - you can beat them, just not to death.  While this seems barbaric, it was forward movement in that for some it would seem ridiculous that slaves would have any rights at all.  This would be a subtle reference that Job did not violate "Thou Shall Not Kill" (Commandment 6).  Notice that we begin to see a turn in thinking in Job 31:15, "Did not he who made me in the womb make them?  And did not one fashion us in the womb?"  This is an onset of egalitarianism for human beings.  As people in Exile, the Hebrews may begin to question status as they used to be self-determining and would now be under foreign domination.

Next, Job adheres to the many laws concerning the care of the poor, the widows and the orphans.  As Job speaks of raising the orphan like a father and caring for the widow from his mother's womb (an exaggerated point), it may be that he's attempting to follow Commandment 5 in honoring his father and mother by mentioning them in terms of respect.

Job then turns to the first Commandment of having no other gods and possibly the second with no graven images, whether they be heavenly bodies or made of gold.

Finally, Job encapsulates the third Commandment by not taking God's name in vain through cursing his enemies.  He welcomes the stranger and the foreigner as God asks us to do in various places within the Law.  One might say that he observes keeping the sabbath (Commandment 4) by not overworking the land and letting it lie fallow every 7th year.

Once again, we can see how Job could represent the totality of God's people in Exile.  While they did miss the mark from time to time, they certainly kept the commandments more than their neighbors who didn't observe them as Law from God.  

The author seems to be asking, where does mercy come into play from God?  If you smite the faithful (even when they mess up), how does this help them to retain their faith?  Job leads us to conclude that maybe the exile wasn't a punishment from God but rather happenstance.  

The difficulty becomes holding one another accountable while recognizing the grace we all need from time to time.

Prayer for the day:

As the rain hides the stars, as the autumn mist hides the hills, as the clouds veil the blue of the sky, so the dark happenings of my lot hide the shining of your face from me.  Yet, if I may hold your hand in the darkness, it is enough.  Since I know that, though I may stumble in my going, you do not fall.  Amen.

Prayer is from a traditional Celtic prayer.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 29

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Thirty

"Be careful how you treat people on the way up, because you may meet them on the way down."

This anonymous quote looks toward a kindness that should cut through occupation and status and standing.

I recently oversaw a funeral for a man who was known for treating custodians and CEOs equally - both with respect that is due all people.

Mother Teresa treated all classes with dignity.

We have a different understanding of class than they had in Job's day.  It is more fluid today as opposed to being so fixed in Job's time that transcending class seemed absurd.  Class still exists in society today but not with the same boundaries in place that keep people from intermingling.

Job's attitude toward those making fun of him has much to be desired from a supposed righteous person.  He complains that those making fun of him are younger than he is which indicates that age was a status as well and we don't have the same respect for our elders today.

But then Job goes on to denigrate them as inferior in that he wouldn't even have given their fathers jobs as shepherds of his flock.  They are no better than dogs in his opinion.

When it comes to strict classes, God would be above Job by a magnitude much greater than Job is over his tormentors.  But Job doesn't see the irony in his attitude.  Why should God give in to his demands for a hearing?  Would Job have had the same consideration for those he's talking about?

We are very interested in justice when we aren't getting it.  It may not be so pressing when it is lacking in others.  They can either get over it or they are making mountains out of molehills.  The prose of Job is subtle but I believe this has an important lesson for us.

Are there people that I regularly encounter whom I would see as beneath me in status if I were truly honest with myself?  How do I treat them?  Are there subtle differences?  How can I make a discipline of treating the minimum wage earner with equal dignity, pomp and circumstance that I would pay to the wealthy? 

Prayer for the day:

Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our siblings throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger.  Give them, through our hands, this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.  Amen.

Prayer by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, 20th Century

Photo from the Series: Reagan White House Photographs, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989. Collection: White House Photographic Collection, 1/20/1981 - 1/20/1989.  Public domain.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 28

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-nine

One of the universal traits of the human condition is nostalgia for the good ol' days.

This is especially true if you were on top and had it all.

Of course, another universalism is that nothing stays the same.

Change becomes inevitable and if nothing else, the human body begins to age as it experiences wear and tear through the years.  

As we look at Job, he is longing for the past when the world was his oyster.  He doesn't list anything negative - it was all good - in contrast to his current predicament.  

Sometimes our monuments are obvious
to everyone but ourselves

When someone today speaks about their own exploits and goes on and on, I start to question their humility.  It may seem to me that they have a need to convince me that they are important.  This can often come from poor self-esteem.  It can also stem from poor self-awareness.

I once heard of a pastor in my conference who confessed to another minister that he didn't always feel the need to pray the prayer of confession in worship.  He was close to retirement and felt that he didn't sin as much as he used to.

Now this is possible and is certainly the goal of United Methodist pastors in sanctification.  But even if I felt this (someday?), I would never say it out loud!  The sin of pride can be confessed if nothing else.

It could be that Job is not quite as innocent as he claims and may be in denial.  Sometimes we have the biggest difficulty in confessing the sins to ourselves.  But true growth can only happen when we are honest about where our sticking points are.

As we continue to see Job as a stand-in for the country of Judah during the exile, it is interesting that the critiques of the prophets for why the people went into exile are the very things that Job says that he used to accomplish on a regular basis.  Sometimes the donor and the recipient see things a little differently.

How can we cultivate greater self-awareness as we move through Lent?

Prayer for the day:

Write deeply upon our minds, O Lord God, the lesson of your holy word, that the pure in heart may perceive you.  Leave us not in the bondage of any sinful inclination.  May we neither deceive ourselves with the thought that we have no sin, nor acquiesce idly in anything of which our conscience accuses us.  Strengthen us by your Holy Spirit to fight the good fight of faith, and grant that no day may pass without its victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer by Charles John Vaughan, Church of England, 19th Century

Photo by John Eikleberry via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 27

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-eight

Job seems to give a soliloquy on wisdom in the midst of all that is happening to him.

As we think about wisdom, it seems that one couldn't put a price on it.  Verse 15 states:

"It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed out as its price."

Certainly, our institutions of higher learning might beg to differ on this adage!

When Job states that "the price of wisdom is above pearls" in verse 18, it reminds me of the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 13:45-46:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Wisdom, like the kingdom of heaven, is something that one would give up everything to possess.  

We finally get a hint of what Job considers wisdom in the last verse of the chapter where God states:

Sometimes we learn from our mistakes.

‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’

As we see what Job has endured, one could say that a part of what this book is getting at is that wisdom can be gained in suffering.  I'm certainly wiser for the difficulties I've had to endure.  Hopefully, these things give us greater empathy for one another rather than greater cynicism.  

The perspective of wisdom may be that we understand that bad times don't endure but that good times don't either.  Both are ephemeral.  We have to celebrate the good while we have them and help each other through the bad when they occur.  Maybe in this we discover the kingdom of heaven.

I like the Black Crowes song called "Wiser Time" whose chorus states:

On a good day, I know it ain't every day

We can part the sea

And on a bad day, I know it ain't every day

Glory beyond our reach

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, like Solomon before us, we would ask you for wisdom.  But if this means that we must endure hardship to get it, we are not so sure.  And so, when the darkness descends upon us for whatever reason, help us to gain perspective in its midst.  And as we gather greater understanding, we would ask that this be tempered with greater compassion as well.  We pray these things in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Photo by Jake Pierrelee on Unsplash

“Wiser Time” lyrics © 1994 American Recordings LLC

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.  

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 26

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter 27

“Explore thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve.” ~ Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Job continues in his protestation of his friends' assessment of him by proclaiming his innocence.  His integrity is all that he has left and he will not let it go.

But then he appears to continue in his discourse by singing Bildad's song (or Eliphaz's or Zophar's).

In essence, the wicked will pay for their deeds and will be left childless and poor.  Of course, this is the very thing that has happened to Job who is not evil at all!

This goes to show us how difficult it is to change our way of thinking.  The idea that God rewards the good and punishes the bad is so ingrained that Job repeats all of the very arguments that his three friends have made against him.  

It is very hard to change our opinions - even if the very opposite is happening to us which refutes those very worldviews!  

Human beings are obstinate!  At first, we thought that it was just his friends that were so obtuse, but now we see that it is Job as well.  

James Fowler posited his six Stages of Faith where he lists stage five as Conjunctive Faith. In this stage we may experience a mid-life crisis.  Here, we face the paradoxes of our beliefs such as God punishes the wicked, but I who am innocent am being punished as well.    

Moving into a higher stage of faith can be difficult work and Job's resistance in this chapter highlights our own resistance to change.

The beauty of Job is that it provides a balcony view of inconsistencies regarding belief and reality.  This allows the reader to see it in Job and then to take a step back to examine our own lives.

As we move through Lent, what are areas of your life, faith or belief on which you hold fast?  Have these caused conflict in your relationships or in your own ability to synthesize them with life?

Prayer for the day:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.  Amen.

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. 

Photo by bill lapp via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 25

Today's Reading: Job, Chapters Twenty-five and Twenty-six

Since these chapters are short, we are combining to help us finish the book within our 40-day Lenten season.  We begin with Bildad's recognition that human beings are fairly inconsequential compared to God.  From a Christian standpoint, we can hear the words of the apostle Paul saying to the Romans in 3:23, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".  Of course, Paul is making the argument that we are justified in Christ rather than from who we are individually.

But as we hear Job's counter argument, we may see that he's not necessarily refuting Bildad.  God is certainly beyond us.  How can we who are limited and finite, truly have any understanding of God?

But as God is limitless, as we seek to understand the rationale of "why the injustice?", Job seems to be admitting that we may not ever get a satisfactory answer.  But for his point, it means that this doesn't necessarily equate to his being deserving of all that has happened.

This allows us to ask the question, "Who does deserve it?"

If we follow along the line of Paul's thinking, then all of us deserve whatever we get.  But at the very same time, as we begin to understand Paul's position of God's love in Christ, it may be that we can step outside the transactional nature of our own works and see it all as blessing.

What does it mean to contend with the mystery?

What does it mean to find contentment in the everyday wonders and see God's hand at work rather than to only feel an absence?   

We may begin to give people the benefit of the doubt which may be all Job asks of Bildad.

Prayer for the day:

God, help us to see past ourselves, to see past our conditions and to see past our circumstances.  These things often blind us to the wider realities of life.  Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.  And as we take it all in, may we wonder anew at who you are for us.  Amen.

Gif from Unforgiven (1992) directed by Clint Eastwood.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 24

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-four

In this passage, we see a more general complaint by Job of the prosperity of the wicked.  This is a theological exploration more than a part of the narrative as we don't see anyone in Job's circumference that fits these characteristics.

Rather, his friends have tried to label Job as one of the wicked.  He seems to be saying that there are plenty of wicked people who never have any of these kinds of consequences happen to them.  It is very similar to what is expressed in Psalm 73.

In essence, we once again see a plea for justice.  When we are doing the right thing as opposed to someone doing the opposite, we like to find ourselves coming out on top.  And when we see someone actually taking advantage of people in order to get ahead, we would like to see their actions come back to haunt them.

This kind of desire is expressed by William Shakespeare in MacBeth.  In Scene 1 of Act 5, we see Lady MacBeth sleepwalking while she tries in vain to rub the blood off her hands.  Of course, her hands are clean, but she has the guilt of murder on her mind.  We hear her say the famous line, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!"

If we can't get outright punishment for the wicked, we can at least see that their conscience is bothering them and keeping them miserable.  This has to do with our sense of justice.

As we weigh this with God's mercy, we may discover that we would rather have God smite them.  

But even as Job proclaims his innocence, the question we come to ask is, "Who is totally innocent?"  All of us by living in a larger system take advantage of the resources we have available to us.  This may also mean that others don't have the same advantages.  We pretend that we've earned every advantage we have, but if you are the child of royalty, you are starting with many more resources than if you are the child of a peasant.  

How can we come to understand a mercy even for people that don't deserve it?  It is not too much of a stretch to then translate this to discovering that our own blessings may not have been as "earned" as we like to imagine.  This allows us to begin to understand grace more proficiently.

Prayer for the day:

O God, make us more thankful for what we have received, more content with what we have, and more merciful of other people in need: we ask it for his sake who lived for us in poverty, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer by Simon H. Baynes, Church of England, 20th Century

Photo by Andrew Valdivia on Unsplash

 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 23

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-three

As we see Job having a conversation with his friends, he is really having a conversation with other scripture.  Yesterday, we saw commentary on Ezekiel and today seems to pick a bone with Psalm 139.

This Psalm is a wonderful example of God's prevenient grace that reaches to us beyond our wildest expectations.  We see the concept of the omnipresence of God especially in verses 7-8:

Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

The cat gets the psalm!

This would have been one of the first places in scripture that would speak of God's presence with us in the afterlife.  It is pastoral in nature and has a very comforting vibe.

The author of Job was undoubtedly aware of this psalm as we see the declaration refuted in Job 22:8-9:

“If I go forward, he is not there;

    or backward, I cannot perceive him;

on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;

    I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.

The absence of God is something that many people have experienced in suffering.  We see Jesus experience this on the cross as he expresses feeling forsaken.

What is interesting is that Psalm 139 seems to take a retaliatory tone after verse 18.  One wonders if the material starting with verse 19 was a later addition.  

If Job 23 is a commentary on this psalm, it is interesting to note that the wicked and hated enemies from verses 19-24 of the psalm could be seen as Job!  Since God obviously hates Job, we should hate Job too!  Of course, since the reader knows that Job is innocent, it makes this retributive logic seem childish at best.  

Job seems to be calling us to question who we count as an enemy.

Prayer for the day:

O creator and mighty God, you have promised strength for the weak, rest for the laborers, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.  O creator and mighty God, help us to continue in your promise.  Amen.

Photo by fabcom via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Prayer is traditional from Pakistan

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 22

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-two

Eliphaz speaks about Job’s great wickedness.  This isn’t anything new from the perspective of the other speeches from Job’s friends.  But as we begin to see the list of unhelpful qualities, we can see how Job could easily be seen theologically as a stand-in for the country of Judah.

The prophet Ezekiel has a critique of Judah and gives the ideas that those who transgress will die and those who follow God’s laws will live.  In chapter 18 of his own book, Ezekiel mentions the importance of restoring to the debtor his pledge, giving bread to the hungry and covering the naked with a garment in verse seven.

Interestingly, Eliphaz states in Job 22:6-7:

For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason

    and stripped the naked of their clothing.

 You have given no water to the weary to drink,

    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

Within Ezekiel’s understanding, the transgressors of these things will end up in exile.  

And even though Job has remained in his home, it is as if he is in exile in that all of the fruitfulness of his land (including his offspring) is gone.  Even Job’s health is in exile.

Sometimes our theology is in line
with a good dog/bad dog mentality

And the author of Job moves us to see that the character Job’s protestations are that he has done all the things that should afford him life.  And since this hasn’t happened, he wants answers.  The reader can see that the character Job is not really any different theologically from Eliphaz – the difference is that Job knows he should be on track with the blessings he’s received from God.

And as we see Job as a stand-in for Judah, we could see that there may be those within the country who would be asking the same questions.

This may allow us to ask the question, “Is there a way in which we can grow spiritually while in exile?”

Prayer for the day:

God, give us the confidence to believe that you remain with us even in our darkest times.  Remind us that even the beloved suffer from time to time.  Help us to understand that the faithful acts in which we engage do not guarantee us freedom from strife.  And when we forget these truths, be patient with us.  Amen.

Photo by Paul David via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 21

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty-one

Job is refuting the dominant belief of his day that God smites the wicked in the here and now through a number of ways.

In a world where miscarriage seemed mysterious, it was often thought to be God's judgment on a family.  If one was fortunate enough to be a live-stock owner, miscarriages among livestock could also be seen as divine disfavor.

Ethically, a calf might be saying, "Why
am I being punished for the sins of my parents?

Job seems to say that there are wicked people who never experience this as a disincentive for bad behavior whether it be through their loss of livestock or children.

In fact, Job states that even those who scoff at God seem to get away with it.

If we see Job as a stand-in for the country of Judah who was carried away to Babylon in the Exile, we know that there were some within that country that didn't follow as faithfully as they should have.  But there would also have been people who did do the right thing most of the time.  If you looked at the behavior of some of the other countries in the region, it may be that they felt they were getting a raw deal.  

They might very well be asking God, "Why would we lose all that we had while the aggressors who murdered your people seem to increase their holdings?"

Prophets within the day indicated that the injustices toward the widow and the orphan and the outsider by the country as a whole led to the Exile.  

And so, we seem to have a both-and.  

It may be that we find ourselves questioning our own behavior, when we face difficulty.  When things make us move toward better action, one could say that God is utilizing calamity to move us toward holiness.  But at the same time, it's important to note that Job's critique seems to be saying that God doesn't work that way or else you would see it universally applied.

As a pastor, I would never want to blame the victim.  However, I know that sometimes drastic change brings upon self-reflection which may be helpful.

How do I open myself to the possibility of change during suffering while simultaneously seeing God giving me the strength to live through it?

This is a theological movement that Job seems to be nudging God's people toward.  It would speak to a people in exile. 

Prayer for the day:

God, the hosts of evil round us scorn your Christ, assail his ways.  From the fears that long have bound us, free our hearts to faith and praise.  Grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the living of these days, for the living of these days.  Amen.

Prayer by Harry E. Fosdick, "God of Grace and God of Glory", 1930.

Photo by jomango274 via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license. 

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 20

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twenty

Zophar has a rebuke that Job may not disagree with in today's reading because Job doesn't count himself among the wicked.

This scathing review of the unjust takes the long view.  Basically, the evil people will perish and their deeds will be forgotten.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a speech given on March 25, 1965 (sixty years and a couple of days ago) stated that injustice had become normal in our country.  In order to see some relief, some were asking, "How long will it take?"

And Dr. King began the famous litany of "How long?  Not long."  He stated with a similarity to Zophar's speech that "No lie can live forever" and "You shall reap what you sow."

And then one of my favorite quotes by Dr. King: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

This is the long view.  It is a hopeful view.  It takes resolve because the injustice doesn't disappear today.  It takes community because we need one another to endure hardships.  But it also takes work on progress toward a goal.  

Dr. King's goal was this: "The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God’s children."

With Job's situation, we recognize that there is always suffering even in the midst of working toward the goal.  Yes, the wicked will eventually perish but what does that do for the one distressed today?

Zophar is privileged in that he hasn't endured the same calamities that have befallen his friend.  And so, if he doesn't share with his friend who has suffered misfortune, does Zophar become the greedy person that he highlights?  

How do we use the times we are in good circumstances to lift the fortunes of those who are experiencing hard times?

Prayer for the day:

Behold, O Lord God, our strivings after a truer and more abiding order.  Give us visions that bring back a lost glory to the earth, and dreams that foreshadow the better order you have prepared for us.  Scatter every excuse of frailty and unworthiness.  Consecrate us all with a heavenly mission.  Open to us a clearer prospect of our work.  Give us strength according to our day gladly to welcome and gratefully to fulfill this goal, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer by Brooke Foss Westcott, Church of England, 19th Century

Quotes by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from "How Long?  Not Long."

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 19

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Nineteen

What is the nature of piling on?

In American Football, piling on is a 15-yard penalty when the offensive player with the ball is already down and the play has been blown dead and a defender jumps on top of the defenseless player.  This penalty is considered a personal foul because it is unnecessary to the outcome of the game.  It is also dangerous and can cause injury against a player who is in a vulnerable position.  

It likely happens because the defender's blood is worked up and the aggression is difficult to turn off with the blowing of a whistle.  The penalty (and likely yelling from the coach) is a way to train people not to pile on.

Today, Job basically accuses his three friends of piling on.  He's already down with all of the tragedies that have struck.  What good does it do for his friends to berate him?

One of the baser instincts among animals is to attack the wounded.  Predators find wounded prey easier to dispatch and so they may go after them even more aggressively.  Does some of this carry over into social situations?

Job is calling foul and wishes that there was a referee to intervene.  

As we consider the people around us, we may find it easy to pile on - especially if we believe that the person's actions are to blame.

"You should have studied harder."

"I told you that outfit was too suggestive."

"You shouldn't have been late so many times."

"Why did you talk back to your boss?"

Our comments are meant to be instructive so as to prevent more bad consequences.  We are really saying, "You should get in line with the social norms."  

Job is reminding us that these comments may be less than helpful in the moment.  And we don't want to drive someone over the edge.  If we pile on, we could hurt a vulnerable person.  And that may be worth more than 15 yards.

How can we seek to be more empathetic?

Prayer for the day:

God, help me to be patient with the people I know - especially the people for whom I feel responsible.  As I seek to guide, may I do so with humility and compassion.  May the goal of their health and wholeness be my first thought for them.  And may it also be the first and last thing I share.  And please silence me when the things in between are better left unsaid.  Amen.

Photo by Kyle T via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 18

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Eighteen

Bildad's discourse lays out the community thinking along the lines of those who obey the law and those who don't.  He lifts up the ungodly and the consequences of their actions which are quite a laundry list of awful things.

This kind of boogey man thinking is fear-based and designed to keep the members of the community in line.  It is easy to slip into without thinking about it.  

"Nothing good happens after midnight"

"If you're five minutes early, you're already ten minutes late"

"You think education is expensive, try ignorance"

"What you eat in private, you wear in public"

Some community standards are flatly ignored!

These types of phrases are proverbs that are designed to keep the community in line.  They keep the populace in bed at roughly the same time.  They keep us punctual.  They keep us in school.  They keep us at a healthier weight.

All of these outcomes are fairly positive from a community standpoint but none of them are absolute.  Sometimes a good thing does happen after midnight.  There are circumstances where you might actually be late to a meeting, and the world will not end.

From a biblical standpoint, the author is using Bildad to show us that these absolutes are not always true and that when we judge others by them as if they were, we may be doing a great disservice to them.  The reader can see Bildad doing this to Job and we feel like he's being a jerk.  This is by design so that we can remember to offer a little grace to others - especially those who have experienced tragedy.

It is important to have a strong community and to have standards that respect others.  But one of those standards should also be compassion.  How can we lean into being more merciful today?

Prayer for the day:

Tender God, touch us, be touched by us; make us lovers of humanity, compassionate friends of all creation.  Gracious God, hear us into speech; speak us into acting; and through us, recreate the world. Amen.

Prayer by Carter Heyward, Church of England, 20th Century

Photo by Katherine Hood on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 17

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Seventeen

There comes a time when we experience depression when we may give up.  One might say that Job is vacillating between depression and acceptance.  He acknowledges that things are not going to get better.  He also recognizes that others scorn him.

When people believe that they are in the hands of forces beyond their control and that spiritual powers are at work to undermine their lives, this can be a helpless feeling for sure.  They may be afraid to get too close to a person who is undergoing tragic circumstance because they may fear that it is contagious like a disease.  If a person has offended the gods (or God), and we're not sure what they did, the natural reaction would be to avoid them "like the plague" because we certainly don't want the same results in our lives.

This is why we see in verse six, that Job states, God "has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom people spit."

This image likely conjures negative feelings!

The spitting before a person was an ancient near east practice intended to ward off the evil that had descended upon the person or household.  The practice may have been as common as applying hand sanitizer today after you shake hands with someone and then see them cough.  

Either practice can make the person feel like a pariah, but it allows the person doing the spitting or applying the sanitizer some feeling of control over the chaos of life.    And of course, today, we believe in the efficacy of our practice, but they likely did as well.

Job is mourning his future in verse eleven when he says, "My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart."

All of us know what it is to be surprised by change whether that be through death or illness or accident.  All of a sudden, the plans we had made are no more.  We must mourn our assumed future as much as we mourn our loved ones.  This can be a difficult task.

If we get to the point where we give up, sometimes things can change to give us hope.  As we move through Lent, we would say that our faith can give us hope.  Our friends and family can give us hope.  Some people seem to have natural resolve that bolsters them to give them hope.  

When chaos is swirling all around, how do we as people of faith not only find hope, but offer it to the world?

Prayer for the day:

O Lord, in whom is our hope, remove far from us, we pray, empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.  Make our hearts so right with your most holy and loving heart, that hoping in you we may do good; until that day when faith and hope shall be abolished by sight and possession, and love shall be all in all.  Amen.

Prayer by Christina Rossetti, England, 19th Century

Photo by Ви Го via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 16

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Sixteen

Job is in a difficult place.  He feels that no one is on his side.

His friends have been no comfort and have made him feel worse by blaming him for all the ills that have transpired.  He also feels that God for whom he perceives to be the author of these tragedies, has also come against him.

One of the ways that humans have tried to break down people has been to isolate them.  As people are social by nature, when our perception is that we are truly alone, our mental and emotional health begins to suffer.  It takes a truly resilient person to stand alone.

When I served through disaffiliation as a district superintendent, in many places, I found myself standing up for The United Methodist Church against the majority.  Many times, I voiced my disappointment as to the way our denomination had been portrayed by the leadership of the church.  It could be a lonely time indeed.  At one of the first churches where I had to oversee a vote, I remember Rev. Dr. Mark Foster being willing to stand alongside me (this was not his church).  He didn't know what I was going to say or how the vote would turn out.  But he was my friend and sat as my second in case I needed some advice.  He proved to be a good sounding board that day as a motion for reconsideration arose.  We found ourselves in new territory!

What does it mean to be alone?

This may have been one of the only votes for reconsideration across the denomination.  I've not heard of others. Both votes failed to achieve the necessary threshold, and the church remained United Methodist.

When a friend has your back, no matter the circumstances, it is easier to face the storm.

I can only imagine what Job must have experienced with all his loss, combined with the feelings of abandonment.  Theologically, I have never felt alone because I've always understood God to be walking alongside me.  It would be a dark place indeed to believe that God was against you as well.

Jesus on the cross cries out that he has been forsaken by God.  In a way, God, as the divinity in Jesus Christ, is experiencing what Job experienced.  

People today still experience this isolation.  How do we help people cope?  How do we make a meaningful connection that says, "I've got your back"?

Prayer for the day:

Grant us grace, O God, not to pass by suffering or joy without eyes to see.  Give us understanding and sympathy, and guard us from selfishness, that we may enter into the joys and sufferings of others.  Use us to gladden and strengthen those who are weak and suffering; that by our lives we may help others to believe and serve you, and shed forth your light which is the light of life.  Amen.

Prayer by H. R. L. Sheppherd, Church of England, 20th Century

Photo by Emre on Unsplash

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 15

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Fifteen

One of the first rules about Systems Theory is that systems resist change.  We see this all the time when changes are suggested whether they be in work, government, military, education, family or church.

Some responses that may be inspired by this resistance include:

"We've tried that before and it didn't work."

"We don't have the budget for that."

"That sounds like extra work."

"We've never done it that way before!"

Or if you're in a church, you could just study it in a committee!

Within the book of Job, we are seeing the main character challenge the status quo around their understanding of God and how God works in the world.  This is very uncomfortable for his friends and Eliphaz challenges Job not by arguing theologically, but by belittling him.

He calls Job windy and notes that the words of his own defense come out of the sin that put him in this mess in the first place.  It is hard for Job to argue with this kind of logic.  If only those who sin are punished by God, then Job must have done something really awful to warrant this treatment.

It's hard for Job to say anything in his defense if he's condemned before he can speak.

Sometimes we may defend a little too hard

This reminds me of the Gospel of John where Jesus heals a man who was born unable to see.  The Pharisees were questioning him and when they didn't like his answer, they say to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?”

Within today's reading, we know that Job is in the right and Eliphaz has got it wrong.  This may cause us to pause and think about the times when we may have asserted the "truth" without knowing all the facts.  But we were sure that we were right!

In a world where people can just assert something confidently whether it is true or not, how do we seek to employ a higher discourse?  And when do I need to pause my judgment and consider another point of view?

Prayer for the day:

God, we would seek to defend you before the hostility of the world.  But sometimes, in our enthusiasm to stand for our faith, we may disparage some of your children.  Help us to recognize when we are simply uncomfortable.  May we always be willing to build a bridge before erecting a wall.  We pray this in Jesus' name.  Amen.  

Photo by Jochen Fray via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 14

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Fourteen

Job seems to be addressing God by taking the stance that human beings are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things that God shouldn't bother noticing them to punish them.

As Christians, we often speak of the eternal presence of God as being a comfort.  Because earthly strife was connected with divine punishment, it seemed kinder to Job to experience the absence of God rather than the presence of God.  

Significance is a matter of perspective

A person of faith with this mindset could develop similar characteristics to a person with an alcoholic parent.  Growing up with an alcoholic parent, you would never be sure when the next tantrum might come.  What is difficult to understand in the moment is that this is less about you and more about the disease of the parent.  It creates dis-ease in the household.

And because sometimes tragedy is random, such as being in an automobile accident or surviving an earthquake, a person who believes that this is divine punishment would have to cast about to think, "what did I do to deserve this?"  Most of us have at least one or two things that are deficient and we would subsequently lay the blame on these.  This can lead to the idea that we have earned or deserve whatever dire occurrence has come our way.  

It becomes far kinder to God (and to the faithful) to lessen our view of the sovereignty of God.  In other words, God doesn't have to be in complete charge of the universe.  Some things can be random.  The advantage of this is that we are not robots caught in God's ordering of the universe.  We have real determination over our own actions.

Of course, this deeper thinking about God and free will is part of what the author is seeking for us.  Verses 16-17 state to God:

For then you would not number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

This is of course the theology that Christians took to heart with our understanding of atonement in Jesus Christ.  While we are in Christ, God covers over our sins and transgressions - seals them up in a bag to quote Job.

How does this understanding of grace help us to see God in a way that is helpful rather than problematic?

Prayer for the Day:

Gracious God, we believe that you love us even in all our imperfections.  We also believe that while our sins do grieve you, that you don't pile on any more than what natural consequences provide.  And at the same time, Jesus leads us to believe that you don't see us as insignificant.    Help us to do the right thing more often, not to avoid punishment or to receive praise, but because it delights you and follows your will for the world.  May we increase in this integrity for our faith.  Amen.

Photo by Dave Campbell via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 13

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Thirteen

Job opens up and gives as good as he gets to his friends.

He names them as "worthless physicians" as they have been no help at all!  Have you ever felt at times that you should have kept your mouth shut?  I think Job wishes that they would have followed this unheeded piece of wisdom.

He then goes on to tell them to act as God's court defenders if he could put God on trial.  It makes us consider, could I really be impartial if I were defending God?

If something is an act of God, we all jump to the conclusion that it must have been done for a reason that we cannot understand due to our limited sight.

We have historically called extreme weather acts of God.  I'm not sure if insurance still uses this terminology but I would classify these as mislabeled.  My defense would be the book of Job!

As a pastor, I've actually met with multiple families who have lost homes to tornado damage.  I didn't ask any of them what they had done to deserve such a punishment!  

That's a lot of sin to clean up!

At a previous appointment, when we had storm damage across our town, I noted that our church was unscathed while the Baptist church had some damage.  I guess we know which congregation God favors after all!

I said this with tongue firmly in-cheek as I know that some people still cling to this type of belief about God.  I also like to tease with the best of them!

Job helps us to avoid making these kinds of assumptions.  

As he prays, Job claims to God that you "make me reap the iniquities of my youth."  This kind of statement makes us recognize that no one wants to be held responsible for the things they may have done as teenagers.  So, we recognize that some grace must be involved with how God sees us!

If we would ask this kind of grace from God, it makes us recognize that we should also afford God grace for the calamity of the world.  Maybe these things aren't acts of God after all!

Prayer for the day:

While faith is with me, I am blest;

It turns my darkest night to day;

But, while I clasp it to my breast,

I often feel it slide away.

 

What shall I do if all my love,

My hopes, my toil, are cast away?

And if there be no God above

To hear and bless me when I pray?

 

Oh, help me, God!  For thou alone

Canst my distracted soul relieve.

Forsake it not: it is thine own,

Though weak, yet longing to believe.

Amen.

Prayer by Anne Brontë, England, 19^th century

Photo by Sheryl Heaton Powers, Moore, Oklahoma, June 4, 2013

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 12

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Twelve

When the exile came to Judah, the leadership was taken away to Babylon.  These were the wealthy and the esteemed.  They had been in control of their own destinies.  Once they were taken away, they were no longer in charge.  They must have felt like laughingstocks.

Their culture was one of shame and honor.  Within this mindset, to have others mock you would be a true low point.  Job feels that those who are less honorable such as thieves and those who provoke God are better off than he is.  And now society at large sees Job as being shamed by God as if he were worse than these shameful categories.

If we can see Job as a stand-in for the country of Judah, today's prose makes a lot of sense.  They would have seen others who didn't seek to follow God as doing better.  You who tried to follow God - even though you sometimes got it wrong - have known greater shame than those who followed after other gods.

We see Job as Judah in that God is the one who "looses the sash of kings" and "leads the priests away stripped."  This is the exile.

How must the people of God have felt during this time?

Some would have given up their faith.  Others would have stayed true.  It's likely that the majority would have been somewhere in the middle.

The final verses indicate how the people must have felt: God "strips understanding from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.  They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard."

To lose one's composure - like a drunkard - would be shameful indeed.  

When one is dealing with these emotions, how can one see?  We may want to help but they may be in such a dark place that they are unable to see the light we offer.  When this is the case, it may be better just to hold onto the person as best we can.

Prayer for the day:

Jesus, my feet are dirty. Come even as a slave to me, pour water into your bowl, come and wash my feet. In asking such a thing I know I am overbold, but I dread what was threatened when you said to me, “If I do not wash your feet I have no fellowship with you.” Wash my feet then, because I long for your companionship.  Amen.

Prayer by Origen of Alexandria, 3rd century

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 11

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Eleven

It is almost comical that Zophar is listed as a Naamathite which is someone from Naamah.  The Hebrew meaning of this word is pleasant! 

Zophar is less than pleasant in his initial advice to Job.  He's someone that needs a lot more training before we would send him around for hospital visits.

He starts off by telling Job that you're better off than you deserve!  If someone has just lost all of their children, this is pretty harsh to say the least.

Zophar also adopts the understanding of the justice of God is being meted out in this lifetime.  And so, since Job has suffered all these calamities, Zophar would be wondering what Job did to deserve all of this.  It must be something pretty bad!

Verse twelve is downright insulting.  We're not sure exactly how this ancient Hebrew phrase should go but the Common English Bible translates it as "A stupid person becomes intelligent when a wild ass of a person is born tame."

Job, are you feeling better yet?

Zophar then goes on to share how much better it will be once Job fesses up.  This is condescending to say the least.

Today's passage is helpful for us to examine ourselves for when we have been sure that we were in the right.  Have we ever adopted a style similar to Zophar's and rubbed someone's nose in it?  This reminds us that humility may be more helpful in persuasion than arrogance.

Prayer for the Day:

God, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke.  Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to condemn, to encourage rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst.  This we ask for your name's sake.  Amen.

Prayer by William Barclay, Church of Scotland, 20th Century

Photo by studio tdes via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

Scripture reference Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 10

Today Reading: Job, Chapter Ten

Here Job is complaining about God’s seemingly negative attention toward him.  He seems to vacillate between the bargaining stage of grief and depression.  There’s probably a little anger as well if we read between the lines.

Job is bargaining because he also wants to believe in the contract that if one is righteous, then one won’t suffer the losses of offspring and wealth that have afflicted him.

The difficult piece for us as we look on is that Job seems genuinely confused as to why God would be working against him in this way.  Life has been pretty good up to this point.  Job’s earlier response to his wife of “receiving the bad along with the good” seems to have been forgotten by him.  It could have been that he said this while he was still in denial.

As Job questions God, we see in verses 4-5 a beginning of the idea that an omnipotent being might not be able to empathize or completely understand what it is to be mortal.

When Job asks, “Do you have eyes of flesh?  Do you see as humans see?  Are your days like the days of mortals or your years like human years,” these questions are rhetorical.  The answer is no.  

Try on other shoes sometimes!

Christians began to embrace this ontological question through the theology of incarnation in Jesus.  God self-limits in Jesus so that God can answer yes to the above questions.  

Both the Jewish text and the Christian theology help us understand the power of putting ourselves in another’s shoes.  When we can see a viewpoint other than our own, it allows us to connect with that person on a more fundamental basis.  When we only connect with our judgment, we might tell them to do better or to quit sinning.  This is blaming the victim.  

How can we empathize with others while maintaining our standards and morals and ethics?  

Prayer for the day:

Loving Lord, we seek your help.  As we have received grace and forgiveness, we find that it is easier to move into a new beginning.  Help us to see others through the eyes of the mercy we’ve been shown.  May we not be so quick to look for a cause for their trouble.  Give us the patience to sit in silence and hold them in comfort.  We pray this in Jesus’ name who suffered much.  Amen.

Photo by Heather Cowper via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily Devotion for Lent 2025, Day 9

Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Nine

Job begins to recount the mighty attributes of God that places God far beyond mere mortals. Interestingly, (spoiler alert) these are some of the same things that God asserts later in the book for why Job doesn't understand!

God as the creator of all things is far beyond mortals in wisdom and knowledge.  

But even as ignorant as human beings may be, we still know when things have not worked in our favor.  At some level, every person has felt cheated before.  Anyone who has watched competitive sports would say that their team hasn't always received a fair shake.  Every person living has probably heard from their parents growing up that life is not always fair.  

But there comes a point where injustice moves past annoying and hovers around catastrophic.  When our life track is substantially altered, it may be that we would like some answers from God.

J

Sometimes life seems stacked for others

ob recognizes that the power differential is such that he would have a difficult time making a good case before God anyway.  He would be too intimidated to make rational points.  

When we experience some type of life-changing loss whether it be a loved one passing too soon or news of an unforeseen illness or being unexpectedly laid off, we are often left asking the question, "why?"  Sometimes people may believe that this is a consequence for some type of sinful behavior.  But if you didn't do anything that would be worthy of the supposed penalty, you may still wonder about the justice of the universe.  

If anger is one of the stages of grief, dare we be angry with God?

The fact that Job is in the Bible at all indicates that God doesn't duck these kinds of feelings.  In order for us to move past anger, it is far healthier to express it in prayer than to repress the emotion and pretend we are okay.  In my experience, it will eventually come out.

If God wants health for us, which I believe to be true, then God is big enough to take us at face value throughout the whole of our lives.  Even when we're angry.  

Prayer for the day:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.  Amen.

The Serenity Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary, 20th Century

Photo by A Guy Named Nyal via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.