These words were part of the assigned text for this day. I read them this morning, already disturbed at the death of yet another of your classmates.
We too often assume that death is for the old, as it should be. We too often assume that we can shield ourselves, which we cannot not always do. We fail to remember that life is a breath.
If you are unfamiliar with the Book of Job, it is a long and sometimes confusing attempt to ask the question of why there is suffering. The particulars of how Job came to suffer distract us from careful study of the attempts to answer the underlying question.
We have faced multiple deaths already this school year. The randomness of an infection undetected till it was too late; accidents; risky behaviors; inattention to the status of another - whatever the cause the loss remains. And we look for answers; we seek some opportunity to believe "This won't happen to me."
But life is a breath. We breath without even thinking about it. But we cannot grasp in our hand the air needed for that next breath. It can simply not be available.
The arguments in the Book of Job do not satisfy the speakers nor do they answer the questions. In the end, we are left with a statement that trusting and clinging to God, we endure the fickleness of our plight and we find assurance that God is not the one who removes our breath. It seems, at times, to not be enough. But it has been, and will continue to be, for those who turn to God for wisdom rather than accept the simple answers put forward.
Your life is a breath. Protect it; cherish it; and give thanks for it. Use the breath within you to form words of comfort and to share wisdom. Do not become distracted by the chatter nor participate in the idle accusations. Give thanks for the breath which is your life and to the God who comes to you each time you inhale.
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