He deprives of speech those who are trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders.
Job is lamenting his tribulations, and becomes despondent. He acknowledges that God knows all things and contains all things and defines all things. The accompanying reflection is from Joan Chittister, and focuses on stability. I needed to hear that.
Stability, she writes, is staying put in the midst of trials. Of fixing my eyes on something greater than me, and just staying where I am. She suggests that when we can focus on something greater than ourselves, when smaller things come and are turbulent, we’re more likely to withstand the trial, because we’ve set our focus on something greater. In my world, this makes so much sense. I have doggedly fixed my eyes on God’s love and grace, and when lesser things risk upsetting my applecart, I can be stable in my presence, even in the midst of the problems.
Even as Job is despondent, he’s crying out to God which is a clear sign of faith. If he’d lost his faith, he wouldn’t be talking to God. That is some powerful faith, to shake one’s fist at God, and trust that God can handle it.
While Job is shaking his fists, he also notices that God deprives the speech of those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. Hmm. This speaks to me. God takes away the very things that those elders felt they had, which was the power of discernment which comes from age. Or God takes away the speech of people who are trusted. We must assume that the trusted and elders have done nothing in this little sentence to warrant God’s removing the very gifts and talents they have. Job is saying that God just arbitrarily takes these things away from good folk.
So is this capricious of God? Does God get pleasure in thwarting the elders and trusted? I certainly hope not. I can’t explain why God does what God does, any more than Job could. And I’m not even sure it’s my job to question why. Rather, I can think about what now. If the elders have been stripped of their discernment, what do they do now? If the trusted don’t have speech, what now? How is God present in this moment, and where is God calling the elders now?
I cannot explain why my loved one is sick, or any possible rational reason; I am not God, and cannot see what God sees. And what now? What am I to do now? Where is God calling me now, given all of the new circumstances in my world?
Sister Joan’s notion of stability helps with this. I don’t need to question why, or try to fix things. I just need to stay focused on things larger than myself, in the midst of the storm. And let that larger force help guide me to whatever’s next.
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