job, ii

the book of job really is a beautiful work.  it tackles some huge topics. (why do bad things happen to good people? is karma, a hard and fast rule? is this life even worth living? is it ever appropriate to "give up"?)

but what i especially love about job, is its beautiful poetry. check out these lines:

"blessed are those whom god corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the almighty. for he wounds, but he also binds up. he injures, but his hands also heal. from six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you." - advice of eliphaz

"if only my anguish could be weighed, and all my misery be placed on the scales! it would surely outweigh the sands of the seas" - job, reflecting on his loss

"my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice, and swollen with melting snow, but that cease to flow in the dry season." - job, on the human condition

"do not mortals have hard service on earth? are not their days like those of hired laborers? like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired laborer waiting to be paid..." - job, on life's neverending struggles

"ask the former generation and find out what their ancestors learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow." - bildad, on finding wisdom

"surely god does not reject the blameless, or strengthen the hands of evildoers." - bildad, on karma

most of all, i dig how job and his friends, and then, ultimately, god, get in this deep and spiritual conversation about justice, karma, and the meaning of life.  they struggle to understand, just as we do, today.

and there's comfort in the [inherent] conflict.

so, is god good? or do they just let it happen.

and the answer seems to be,

both.