Word to the Wise
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - Wednesday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Job 9:1-12, 14-16 and Luke 9:57-62]Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
OCTOBER 1ST - ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS
The Book of Job is structured around statements made by Job's "friends" and Job's response to their statements. In today's passage is in response to a statement by Bildad, one of the friends, who urges Job to go directly in prayer to God for relief. Job basically responds that God is too great to be worried about him. He [Job] is simply a creature with whom God can deal in whatever way God wants. In short, Job believes he has no standing in God's sight that would enable him to contend with God.
As in so much of the Book of Job, there is a profound question here. Are we so "powerless?" Certainly many other great figures in the Old Testament argued with God. Moses is the best example. Yes, God is omnipotent and can do away with creation in a blink, but that is not how God has chosen to act. If we are made in God's image and likeness as we are told in the Book of Genesis, then it seems to me that we have the capacity to yell, scream, laugh, converse - all of this with God. Job is trying to make sense of his situation and decide how to express himself to God. Perhaps we have experienced the same confusion in the face of great tragedy. There is more to come and think about. AMEN
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