Life is hard - August 28, 2024

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 119:1-24; PM Psalm 12, 13, 14
Job 6:1,7:1-21; Acts 10:1-16; John 7:1-13  

The Book of Job is hard to read – both in the horrible losses that pile upon a prayerful man, and in the ways he processes his grief. I believe it is important to spend time in the Book of Job from time to time, and over the next few weeks, we get to do just that! Excerpts from Job are appointed as the Old Testament readings in the Daily Office lectionary through mid-September.

Job’s hardship and loss are extreme. His grief is visceral and honest. His three closest friends come to his side as he faces the destruction of his family and home. Sadly, Job’s friends struggle to find the right words, and so bumbling through, they indirectly and directly blame the devastation on his lack of faith in God. They offer unhelpful guidance. It is uncomfortable to read.

In today’s excerpt, the grieving Job vents to God: “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth, and are not their days like the days of a laborer?” Yes, it is hard to be a human. It is hard to be an adult. It is also hard for kids to be kids. It is hard to be in relationship with others. Our work is hard. Our losses are hard. Circumstances around us do not always feel comfortable or fair or kind or safe.

Job continues in his plea to the Lord: “What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, visit them every morning, test them every moment? Will you not look away from me for a while…If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity? Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.” Job is not wrong in his pleading, self-focused soliloquy. And God can take Job’s heat. And Job needs to get those words and feelings out, just as you and I must give space for similar feelings in our lives.

Friends, life is hard. If we cannot be honest about that, the authentic beauty of life gets obscured. Job brings to the surface an honesty that toxic optimism seeks to diminish. This piece of wisdom literature from Holy Scripture is so important to give space to spiritually and emotionally. Our work here on earth is troubled. I believe that is why, in faith, we look to God to lift us up, heal our wounds, and bring completion to the incomplete we lived in. I think about the Vince Gill song, “Go Rest High on That Mountain” which begins with these words and refrain –

I know your life
On earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain
You weren't afraid to face the devil
You were no stranger to the rain

Go rest high on that mountain
Son, your work on earth is done
Go to heaven a-shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Our faith informs us of this: at the end of our travails, God meets us in love. And right now, in the midst of this life that is both flourishing and passing away, we are invited into honesty and connection with God and one another.  

May God bless and nourish you this day,

Katherine+

Reflection and Challenge

How easy or hard is it for you to hold space with people who are grieving? Where do you feel the discomfort in your body? What does grieving feel like for you?

I invite you to sit with Job today and the next few weeks to explore your patterns of grief - and where God meets you in that tumultuous space. And above all, know that you are loved and not alone in your pain.