Another year. Another civilian killed by law enforcement in Minneapolis. Another set of demonstrations/protest/riots. Another collection of hot takes that miss the point. Here’s my attempt to be different.
That statement should shock absolutely no one. Being a weirdo has always meant having some kind of pscyhological attraction to the stuff that I “shouldn’t”. As a kid in the 90’s, my mom used to try to teach us to appreciate the pretty and gentle things in life: classical music, nature, ballet, art and culture… and if anybody remembers the toy aisle in those days, the “girl toys” were always pink and pastels and the boy aisle looked like it got thrown up on by a Spirit Halloween store. To wit, toy commercials would vary between the pop music/Pastoral Symphony mix for Barbie and the near-metalcore for Micro Machines and Nerf; admittedly, my four year old brain may be exaggerating this a bit for comedy’s sake. Whenever the screaming guitars would start, my mom would teach my sister and I to say “ooh, yuck”. And then there was me… “Oh yuck…… I like it!” Welcome to my world.
Obviously, the news cycle is being dominated by a single, very specific topic. I wanted to give my thoughts in a slightly more complete form and hope that, by getting it “out”, I can give myself some room to move on. Hopefully this is helpful to other people, but if not, I understand.
**A quick note before beginning: I was on my way in to work the other day and Spotify decided to recommend what I am deciding is the unofficial theme song of this series. What Makes a Good Man? — The Heavy Give it a listen for a fire introduction.
In post 7 of this series, we get into round 2 of the verbal boxing match between Job and his friends. Job has already declared his trust in God as the basis for why he is complaining so violently and Job’s friends are getting increasingly agitated that he isn’t just taking their advice and going with it. It’s a very human frustration when you are just “so sure” you are right to see someone rejecting your “obvious” wisdom and suffering for it — for Job’s friends, however, this becomes a negative feedback loop where Job must obviously be hiding something that he really doesn’t want them to know. The more Job denies it, the more convinced they become. Job opens round two of the dialogue with a lament about the temporarity of life.
In post 6 in the ongoing series on Job, we get to Job chapters 10-13. For the most part, once the argument starts, there is a repeating series of “Job complains, someone rebukes him, Job offers a rebuttal” that gets rinsed and repeated — hence my habit of covering three(ish) chapters at a time. Eliphaz and Bildad have both attempted to convince Job that he just needs to give it to God and repent of whatever it was he may or may not have done to deserve his current predicament, in slightly increasing degrees of hostility. Zophar steps on the gas even further in chapter 11 to make the claim that, okay, while Job may not have done something, someone in his house has, and Job has allowed it, and therefore this is all his fault. You may sense a theme by this point. At least, I hope you have.
After taking a brief hiatus, it’s time to dive back into Job. To pick up where we left off, we know that Job is a righteous man that is caught beween the Lord and Satan, he’s lost everything, and his three friends have been keeping him company for the past week. When Job finally gets up the nerve to break the silence, Eliphaz responds to him that, while Job is righteous, he still deserves what is happening to him because he has a lack of faith in the Lord’s protection over him — because, after all, only evil people get wrecked by God’s judgment. Job, being quite understandably perturbed by Eliphaz suggesting he just needs to pray the pain away, lets Eliphaz have it for not offering any level of comfort to someone that is suffering. It’s in that context that Job turns his attention back to his current predicament and launches into his next complaint.
For legal reasons, the following is opinion based on sincerely held belief. I am fully aware that I may be wrong and have misread the situation — but I try to call it like I see it. If this hurts anyone’s feelings, I apologize — I am trying to speak truth as I understand it.
The Beat Down
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