Today's Reading: Job, Chapter Seven
It is very likely that Job is a product of the Babylonian exile. This was the time that Judah lost everything - their country was overrun, the Temple was destroyed in Jerusalem and much of the leadership was marched off in captivity to live in Babylon.
Some think that the book and story of Job represent God's people en masse.
Today's reading alludes to this as it speaks to the futility of being human. Our time here may seem short until we are suffering and then it seems as if it will never end. We see in this chapter more of the theology of Sheol which is the afterlife where all people end up.
And when we seek solace in sleep, sometimes even that is elusive when misery surrounds us.
When Job asks, "What are humans, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them," this would recall the eighth Psalm which asks, "what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"
But the Psalmist answers, "Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor." while Job responds that God tests them every moment.
We see Job speaking with scripture and it takes serious critique with some of the positive aspects. Job speaks from the position of the one who suffers whether that be a country or an individual.
It could be that this wrestling is important for those in grief. And in our faith tradition, we can see that God doesn't censor the wrestler. And for those in the depths of anguish, we can see that platitudes don't really sugar coat anything.
This may speak to the freedom of expression and the need for our voice to be heard when we are crying out.
For those not suffering, it is hard to listen to and hard to read. Our faith may be asking, how does it lead us to empathy rather than pity?
Prayer for the day:
O God, that we may receive your blessing, touch our brows, touch our heads, and do not look upon us in anger. In a hard year, offer us mercy; in a year of affliction, offer us kindness; dark spirits banish from us, bright spirits bring close to us; gray spirits put away from us, good spirits draw near to us. When we are afraid, offer us courage; when we are ashamed, be our true face; be over us like a blanket, be under us like a bed of furs. Amen.
Prayer is a traditional Mongolian prayer.
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.
Photo by Alyssa L. Miller via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons license.
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