[July 2006 journal entry]
The story/play Job begins with a series of tragic reports of death and devastation. Then after months of futility (7:3), the ‘scrapheap’ Job’s physical deterioration leaves him dirty, foul breathed, a mere shadow of his former frame. Food has no taste. The nights drag on. He can read abandonment, fear, ridicule in the eyes of friends, relatives, colleagues. There are several ways to enter the story/play – e.g.,
The story/play Job begins with a series of tragic reports of death and devastation. Then after months of futility (7:3), the ‘scrapheap’ Job’s physical deterioration leaves him dirty, foul breathed, a mere shadow of his former frame. Food has no taste. The nights drag on. He can read abandonment, fear, ridicule in the eyes of friends, relatives, colleagues. There are several ways to enter the story/play – e.g.,
- The question “Does Job fear God for nothing?” leads to an interpretation of tragic experiences as a test of integrity (defined as the coherence of one’s actions over a lifetime). In the prologue, Job is not charged with vices. Instead, he is suspected of being double-minded in his virtues. Why does the Accuser think he can win the prologue wager?
- The marriage vow “For better or worse” leads to an attempt to see the story/play from the perspective of Job’s wife. Particular attention – unfortunately absent in the story/play -- should be given to the multiple complications faced daily by the spouses/partners of profound sufferers.
- Realizing that good intentions can fail leads to a description/interpretation of the inability of Job’s spiritual community -- including his closest friends -- to remain loyal to him.
- The claim “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away” opens an examination of the chasm that separates pre-scientific and scientific (or modern) understandings of life experiences, with particular attention given to the expanding technological ways we now give and take away life in the practice of medicine.
