Where to Look?

Today's readings: Ps 38; Job 14:1-22; Acts 12:18-25; John 8:47-59
In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, the lead character Tevye is the head of a Jewish family living in Russia during the pogroms. Reflecting upon the suffering of God’s chosen people, he only half-jokingly asks God, “Couldn’t you choose someone else for a while?” Job, reflecting on his own suffering, asks God to look away from short-lived mortals (v 6) – that is, to focus attention on someone or something else for a while – so Job can get some peace. Like Job and Tevye, we can sometimes feel like God is asking more of us than our fair share.

If, as the psalmists claim again and again, the way of the Lord leads to delight, why can it seem burdensome? Partly because it really isn’t fair, not in the worldly sense of balanced shares of reward and responsibility. Doing right in the eyes of God often means assuming burdens others have neglected. More than we’d like, our efforts not only go unappreciated, they are resented. We can grow discouraged and resentful ourselves. Where do we look for happiness in such situations? We can change focus from expectations of others to expectations of ourselves. We can’t count on satisfaction derived from other people because we can’t control how they act or feel. The satisfaction we can count on is what we get from knowing our own actions are just and loving.

As Job protests suffering he perceives as inflicted by God, we must remember the book is a poetic reflection on the philosophy of suffering, not a historic document. In our own lives loss and illness raise entirely differently questions of faith and fairness, but they are not inflicted by God. Nevertheless, the idea that living in the presence of God can be stressful is valid. What are we to make of Jesus’s words, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30)? If our expectations are set by the world, these words will not seem true to us. But in the “upside-down” truth of God’s realm, the unfairness of the world does not weigh us down even as we resist it. Our burden grows lighter as we learn justice and mercy are not what we collect, but what we give away.

Comfort: God does not seek to inflict burdens, but to ease them.

Challenge: Ask yourself if there is a burden in your life you need to look at from a different perspective.

Prayer: God of life, teach me to be content no matter my burden.

Evening readings: Ps 119:25-48

Tomorrow's readings: Ps 37:1-18; Job 16:16-22, 17:1, 13-16; Acts 13:1-12; John 9:1-17