Then the Holy One answered Job out of the whirlwind:
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?”
—Job 38.1, 4, 18
Job’s friends insist he must have done something
to deserve his suffering.
Job dissents… but finally breaks,
and asks God, “OK, I give up. Why do we suffer?”
God’s answer, mostly, is no answer:
You don’t know what you’re talking about;
you couldn’t comprehend what I might say.
Do you think you’d do better at running the world?
Yet notice that in showing Job how small he is,
God shows him (for three chapters!) how great Creation is.
Yes, you suffer, because you’re a fragile creature who cares.
(There is no “why.” Suffering happens.)
But look at the Whole: you’re not just a little suffering individual;
you’re part of a great, beautiful, wonderful world— a good world.
Let the whole thing, not just your little bit of it, be your reality.
When you suffer, think of the whole universe.
Yes, there is suffering in it, some of it yours;
yet, all in all, it’s good.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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