The Book of Job

Like in the Bible - *that* Job.

Maybe I should put this in my book blog, but thought, since Job is - well- he epitomizes Everyman, in a great sense - that I'd post my thoughts on Job here. Because I know everyone's dying to know what I think of Job, :).

I read Job recently with a study group at the UU church I attend. I've read Job before, partly in eighth grade, then again, my senior year in high school. both of those times I was at different places in my life. I'm not sure how much I got out of it in eight grade at all, but I have to admit, in high school, reading Job (and Exodus) was one of the factors in my ultimately "losing my faith". I realize now, after a third reading at the age of 44, how my current interpretations of Job might even have left me a believer, after all - although not at all in the same way I was,then.

One thing I never understood about Job was why God - all-powerful, all-knowing - could allow Job to suffer so, then finally appear, after much pleading on Job's part, to say, "Hey, stuff happens - stop your belly-aching and enjoy the things you have left." Because that's basically what He says! And Job's like, "Oh, yeah, sorry, God, never really thought about it like that - I'll try that approach." And all gets better. Until Job dies.

We read Ecclessiastes before this, and that's basically a long-winded, yet poetic and beautifully written question(s) about the meaning of life. Why are we here, what are we supposed to do now that we are here, never mind how we got here in the first place... ? Questions, questions, where are the answers? Does God provide them? Well, according to both Ecclessiastes and Job, yes - and no. Both books remind me of the question/statement posed by Jesus later in the New Testament - "Consider the lilies of the field..." Meaning (to me, anyway) the lilies of the field just are - they are lilies of the field, they live within the context of the field, they survive, they thrive, then at the end of their season, die, like everything else. Like us. But do they question God for their ultimate withering and dying, for their being trampled upon or picked or eaten, perhaps? No. Then, why do we?

In Job, this last question is addressed throughout the book. God makes a bet with Satan that, if Satan inflicts Job with all kinds of horrors and tragedies - the death of all of his livestock, crops, servants, and even all of his children, AND a nasty rash to boot - Job will still never denounce Him. And God wins the bet. Throughout Job's extreme suffering, three friends visit him and accuse him of being sinful and unjust - why else would God allow these terrible things to befall him? But Job defends himself throughout that no, he is very just, he has never sinned against God, he is undeserving of his punishment, and would God please show up somehow and explain why He is allowing one of his faithful servants to suffer? Because Job trusts that God has some good explanation for this.
After God doesn't show up for a long, agonizing time, however, Job loses it - sorta. He does not denounce God, but he questions, more and more adamantly, what the heck God is trying to prove. Basically "What did I ever do to you?" He still defends himself as being just and undeserving of such punishment.

Then, near the very end of the book, God shows up in a "whirlwind". And he basically says to Job - Life sucks. Get over it - and what do you want ME to do about it? Alleviate your suffering? Hey, your friends were here, that's what they were for. Do special favors for you to save your family and livestock from suffering and death? Hey, I just created the world and let it be - I don't have time for micro-management. And besides, now that you've suffered, you'll appreciate your future good health and your future children and wealth even more. In short, you'll know and appreciate real joy, because you know now what it is to suffer and to lose this joy.

Wow. Reading this now, when I'm 44 and had my own share of minor tragedy and loss - as all of us have by this age - I get this. I get Job's point of view, but I get what God is saying, too. (Of course, I paraphrased and I highly recommend you read the actual text - it's also very poetically written.) There's a long chapter in which God says, Look, I created the world, the universe and I created the good with the bad, everything coexists and that's how it is. I let it be. I let you, Man, be. Yes, I'll take care of the logistics - the air, the soil, the food chain... but the rest is up to you, really. Life is what you make it. And bad things happen to good people. And what you take from that, from your own suffering, is up to you - but, BUT - if you can take all the bad stuff that happens in the world and still think highly of the world and other men, i.e., still be "good" - then you will understand. And when you understand, you will accept life, even when you know and understand you will one day die.

Yeah, this is some heavy stuff and it reminds me of Buddha's fourth Noble Truth - the Eightfold Path, that says, Yes, we all suffer but here is the "middle path" that will let you go on and deal with the suffering. Not - here is the ultimate answer to the question why we all suffer - no, here is the path that will help you accept life with it's joy and suffering together - here is the WAY.

I also learned, in this class, that the books of the Old Testament were gathered together around 400-500 BCE (or B.C. if you're old-school) around the same time that Buddha was alive and teaching the Eightfold Path, the Middle Way. It was also the time of the "great" Greek philosophers such as Plato. In other words, the work of inventing agriculture and architecture is done, now it's time to sit and reflect. What have we gained? What have we lost?