Psalms 1-18

I find the Psalms to be fascinating reading. They are these wonderful snippets of intensely heartfelt prayer. Each radiates a singular emotional state such as gratitude, desolation, joy, fear, need, and wonderment--one juxtaposed with the next seemingly at random. It manifests the variety and the intensity of a life lived in the shadow of a loving, mysterious God. It also reflects the ups and downs of life--of our lives.

A recurring image in these early Psalms is the idea of God as our refuge.  Happy are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2)  But let all who take refuge in you be glad and exult forever. (Psalm 5) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge. (Psalm 7) In the Lord I take refuge. (Psalm 11) Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Psalm 16)

I tend to think of a refugee as a person fleeing from something--war, disease, persecution, famine. But the Psalmist focuses on what he is running to: the saving and loving God. Whether we are fleeing our fear, our sadness, our loneliness, or our enemies, it is to Him we flee. He is our refuge, our shelter, our protector.But we don't just hide there; rather, as we learn in the very first Psalm, we flourish:

Happy the man who . . . delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, he prospers.

There is that theme of fruitfulness again! 

Job Redux or Why Do We Suffer?

For some reason I have been finding it hard to move past the Book of Job to the Psalms. So, I decided that perhaps it is because I have more to say about Job! In Job, we are faced with the timeless question of why we suffer? Or, put more precisely, why do the innocent and the righteous suffer? Why does God allow it?

The short answer is: I don't know. I don't believe that God orchestrates everything that happens in the world. He has created men and women with free will in a temporal, physical world of change and instability. People make choices that affect others. Events happen that seem to have no cause--or better, no rationale. I am not sure that I even believe that things happen for a reason--although it is an expression I use often. Rather, I believe that God meets us at every moment of our lives, calling us and encouraging us and loving us in every success, every failure, every tragedy, every triumph, every joy, and every moment of agony. Every moment from birth to death. Calling us to Him. This allows us to find meaning in every moment--by somehow seeing God or hearing His call in that moment and imbuing it with meaning by allowing ourselves to be drawn closer to Him. 

Of course, that is easier to say on a warm, early morning on the way to work after a restful weekend. Not so easy to hang on to that idea when tragedy strikes, when children are murdered or planes crash or firefighters die heroically trying to save others or young men and women die in combat in far off lands. Then, I can only hope and pray that I am right, and that God is here for me and for all of us today and every day. And I try to find the meaning....

Job 1-42

To begin with, my apologies for going off the grid for awhile. I was given a new (and bigger) job at work, and have been immersed in facilitating an orderly transition to my successor while also getting acclimated to my new role. Part of that process involved some travel to meet some of my new team, with more travel to come. While this allowed me to continue reading through the Bible, blogging became more difficult.  

Anyhow, it gave me the time to read through the challenging and thought-provoking Book of Job. Here are some of my reactions to the story of Job.

The frame of the story is a little creepy. God and Satan having a conference--a sort of team meeting of the so-called sons of God. God brags to Satan about the righteous Job, but Satan notes that it is easy to be just when one has a life with many happy blessings. There is some truth in this, no? Anyway, God invites Satan to put Job to the test. I can only read this aspect of the story allegorically--taken literally God's attitude seems too callous and too sterile to be that of the God of mercy. (But maybe I am guilty of the same pridefulness as Job in thinking that I know better than God?)

Job learns that in some ways he is (and we are) radically alone in this life. His wife tells him to quit protesting his innocence and advises him instead to "Curse God and die." His friends--those who have not abandoned him in his misery--are little comfort to him. Yet Job tries (at first) to recognize that life is filled with good and evil things and events, and that we need to face them all without blaming or questioning God. But as the hardships and tragedies mount, he begins to regret the day he was born: Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Job wonders why God is mindful of men, why He "tries them at every moment"; why He apparently refuses to forgive Job's sins, but instead continues to punish him. Ultimately, Job becomes an object of derision in his community--where once he had been highly esteemed. He is utterly alone.

At bottom, what Job wants is understanding. Job wants from God an explanation for why he is suffering. Is he being punished? Tested? Something else altogether? Like many of us, Job wants to know why. Often, understanding how and why things happen can make trying times easier to accept. We want to find the meaning in (or impose a meaning on) the things that happen to us--most especially the "bad" things. Thinking they are nothing more than randomness is disconcerting. Thinking they are purposefully given to us to test us can be horrifying; it seems unnecessarily cruel. Therefore, we look for some greater meaning. And when we cannot find it, as Job cannot, we despair. Like Job, we wish we were never born.

Job clings to a defense based on his past blameless conduct. He has not (and does not) sin against the Lord. The tragedies that befall him are unjust. His friends try to explain the ways of God to Job. They counsel him that no man is blameless, but all are born into sin. They assure him that the triumph of wickedness in this life is temporary--that the good will ultimately triumph and be justified. They urge him to return to God and "lay his words upon your heart." In short, they offer human explanations for the ways of God. Job cannot accept their counsel. He remains puzzled and, in some ways, defiant. He has not sinned and does not deserve the horrors laid upon him. But he will continue to fear the Lord and to try to be righteous:

Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; and avoiding evil is understanding.

Elihu, silent until now, rebukes Job for looking at the world and his personal suffering through his own eyes rather than God's. Elihu explains that the lens through which he should view his life and suffering must be that of God's perspective, not his own. And he is in no position to question God. God may be testing him, may be preparing him, may be teaching him. It is impossible to know. However, since God is good, Job should accept what happens to him, and look for God and God's teaching in these events.

Finally, God Himself speaks to Job. He reminds Job of His  greatness and majesty. He recounts the many great things He has done--His wisdom, His goodness. He challenges Job to provide a reason why he, Job, has standing to question or criticize His ways. Job recognizes that God is right. He will attempt no more to justify himself or to question God, whose wisdom is beyond all human understanding. He "disowns" all that he has said previously. With that, God restores Job to prosperity. Job also intercedes for his friends, with whom God was angry (for failing to "speak rightly" about God); God decides not to punish them in light of Job's intercession.

2 Maccabees 8-15

This section covers in more detail the glorious exploits and victories of Judas Maccebeus.  Less ground, in other words, than 1 Maccabees. But the emphasis here is different, in that the author repeatedly attributes to Judas, and to the Jewish people generally, a strong sense of trust in God, as well as deep humility regarding their reliance on Him. These strong themes running through this book make it more interesting and impactful, at least for me.  

I am also moved by the sections that reference the resurrection of the dead, and the concept that we the living can pray for the dead and thereby somehow affect their ultimate state and destiny. This is reminiscent of the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, which I must confess baffles me. But that discussion is for another time.

On to Job......

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Hope you had a great week. I am making my way through the story of the Maccabees--told twice, in two adjoining books. Candidly, it has not been my favorite section of the Old Testament. A lot of history and politics and intrigue. But a little light on the spiritual side. I've tried to provide some thoughts and comments that I hope you'll find interesting. Cameos by Tony Soprano, Alexander the Great, and Cleopatra, among others.

Here you go...

1 Maccabees 1-5

1 Maccabees 6-9:22

1 Maccabees 9:23-12

1 Maccabees 13-16

Do You Know Where You're Headed?

2 Maccabees 1-7

And here is the link to the Sunday Snippets page:

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Enjoy!

Have a great week.

2 Maccabees 1-7

2 Maccabees is an abridged version of a five-volume Greek history book that is now lost to the ages. It begins with the period preceding 1 Maccabees, but then continues on through that period (and perhaps past it--I haven't finished it yet). 

For the most part, this section is more historical than spiritual. It recounts still more political intrigue, betrayals, maneuvering for office, etc. High priests with grand ambitions lead the people away from God and the law, plot each others' demise, and bribe the powerful to gain advantage. Many Jews are led astray, drawn to the attractions of the Greek life. These events set the stage for the heroics of the Maccabees, who will come on the scene shortly.

What struck me in this section, though, are the stories of the martyrdom of the scribe, Eleazar, followed by the story of the mother and her seven sons. In both stories, the protagonists refuse the king's order that they eat pork, in violation of God's law. They willingly and joyfully embrace martyrdom, secure in the knowledge that they are pleasing God. And for the first time, the concept of life after death for the faithful and obedient is raised in the Old Testament. It is described as a resurrection of the body and a community of those who have passed to the next life. It is beautifully evoked and described by the seven sons and their mother in their dying words. The mother encourages her sons:

Since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each man's beginning, as He brings about the origin of everything, He, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life, because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of His law.

And the last of her sons, facing death, says:

My brothers, after enduring brief pain, have drunk of never-failing life, under God's covenant.

These stories are incredibly powerful. The courage and the hope in the Lord exhibited by these martyrs are marvelous and humbling examples to me.  

Do You Know Where You're Headed?

Do you know where you're headed, sir?

I was walking through our conference center this week when an area coordinator asked me that question. There are many meeting rooms there, and her job is to ensure people get directed to the right place.  But at that moment, as I moved from one business meeting to the next, I had actually been thinking about how great God is and how fortunate I am for the life I have. It was if God were asking me the question.

My answer is: Yes, I think so. I am going to Heaven. Not because I deserve it, but because God is merciful. He casts my sins away as far as the east is from the west. I try to be faithful of heart, as David was. I fall short of how I should act, but I try to be loving, generous, and thoughtful to those around me, and grateful to God for all I have. I think that's what God wants. Could I do it better? Of course. Am I sorry that I don't? For sure. But I have also noticed so far, as I have made my way through the Old Testament, that God repeatedly counsels His people not to be afraid. He doesn't say "don't be sad" or "don't cry" or "don't grieve" or "don't be angry". These are part of being human. But He does say "Do not be afraid." 

And so, I am not afraid (or, at least, I try not to be afraid) that He will abandon me, or that He will withdraw His love from me, or that He will renege on His promise of everlasting life for me. I do feel sad and grieve when I recognize how far I fall short of the person I should be, but being confident in His mercy and love helps me shake off that sorrow and move forward.

Do I know where I am going? Yes, I think I do. Thank God.