On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 14:01:19 -0700, Warren Ockrassa wrote
> Possibly harking to Job and God's reply out of the whirlwind? That's > one of the more enigmatic monologues in the entire Abrahamic > tradition. I've seen really hard-line realist type interpretations > that insist God is entirely unknowable; I've seen Zennish renderings > that suggest something remarkably similar; years ago my own take on > it was that it was a non-answer, equivalent to an arbitrary, > "Because I'm God and I can, that's why."
I used to think Job was impenetrable until I realized that at one level, at least, it is a simple lesson. When bad stuff happens to you, there's a great temptation to insist that I didn't deserve it. Job was resisting that urge, choosing to trust that God is just, until his friends goaded him into trying to negotiate with God... who responded with all the "did you create the universe?" stuff. I'm always a bit surprised when I read some of the words attributed to God in Job that seem nothing other than sarcastic.
The lesson could be, "Don't listen to your friends," but I think it actually is a simple, "trust God." Have faith that things that make zero sense and feel utterly wrong (a parent burying a child always comes to mind for me) happen with God's permission, at the very least. This is trusting without understanding, which is almost completely antithetical to my habits. I'm happy to do God's will, as long as God will explain the whole plan to me,
"Me, too!"
I remind myself to admit now and then. And then I remember that the whole plan won't fit between my ears.
Another way of looking at it: mortal parents don't always have the time to explain everything to their kids in terms the kids can understand before the kid needs to do it. Sometimes they have to say "Do it because I said so." And sometimes the only explanation possible is "You'll understand when you get older/have kids of your own." Similarly, there are times when we are not atm capable of understanding what our Heavenly Father asks us to do or to endure, and many times understanding only comes after we do it (or fail to do it).
or, as a mentor once said to my, "Any sentence that begins, 'If I were God...' is insane.
Is that a comment on a fellow list member's state of mind? Or have you traced his address to confirm his identity?
-- Ronn! :)
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