Firebush
I finally got around to tackling some of the weeds in my garden yesterday.
They had grown do tall, it was getting hard to see the hostas, even though they were nearly two feet tall and bunched together like a hedge.
But in among them is a firebush, an overgrown bundle of prickly thorns which seem to jump out at me at the slightest provocation.
Apparently many more thorns found their way to me than I realized. Oh, sure, I felt the stabs when I picked up bundles of weeds, but I didn't see anything. I just assumed the thorns got me without leaving anything behind.
I was wrong.
Today, my fingers are sore, with little bumps that reveal the presence of tiny intruders that remained behind.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. - Job 38:4
In today's reading from Job, God gets tired of hearing Job make his case for fairness in the way he is treated, and he lets Job have it.
This is one of the most difficult books of The Bible, not because it is hard to understand, but because the picture it paints of God is one we don't want to accept.
It is the picture of a god of thorns, one who doles our pain as easily as joy. It is no wonder my thorny plant is called a firebush. It is like the burning bush of Moses, in a way.
The fragments of thorns that remain behind demand my attention, continuing to give me discomfort until I dig them out and let the wounds heal.
Some I can't see, even with a magnifying glass, so I have to wait until my body does its work of pushing the thorns to the surface.
So, what is the message in Job? Is it that God is cruel, or is there a lesson in suffering that we need to hear?
It isn't until Job let's it all out and listens to God that he begins to accept that he has no understanding. There is no rationalization or reason to be sought out in the way of the world. Bad stuff happens.
The lesson, I think, is in healing, which is part time and part personal effort, digging at the sore to release the thorns within.
Maybe next time I go weeding, I will be more cautious around the firebush, but something tells me, it will get me anyway.
More to come...