Wrestling with God: Making Sense of Suffering through the Book of Job
According to the speech, bad things happen to righteous and good people. Sometimes it is strictly a random occurrence and people should not feel victimized by their suffering. Bad things do happen to good people even when there are no possible explanations. According to Rabbi Harold Kushner, God is exceptionally sympathetic with His people’s suffering even though it seems that He allows their sorrow to continue. According to the rabbi, sometimes all that people need is the faith and piety of Job, even when everything seems to be crumbling (Kushner 12). Everyone must undergo suffering at one point or another in his or her existence, in fact, everyone who has the ability to gain and retain knowledge must suffer. People make the mistake of rationalizing their suffering at a time when there is no need for the action. They should instead remain pious and steadfast in their faith. The mysterious nature of God is difficult to comprehend and attempts to do it would be futile. There is a plan and purpose for all suffering even when it seems like a random coincidence. There is always a lesson to learn after all the challenges we undergo. The speech mentions ancestral sin as one of the causes of people’s suffering. However, the new covenant offers absolutions to people that are laden with ancestral sins.
Sometimes people suffer so that their faith is tested. People are generally bound to get angry if the reason for their anguish is to ultimately assign a lesson. Those that have strayed because of their sorrow have a hard time recovering their faith even long after it is put to test. The concept of asking people to remain steadfast has worked for some people. This works for people that have been religious for long period. New recruits to the faith rarely know how to endure suffering. It destroys the morale of certain people and religious books do not offer a way to regain their faith. The best way to deal with suffering is to offer support instead of asking people to maintain faith in a religion that seems to let them down at their darkest hour. The speech also stated that everyone who has the ability to learn has the capability to suffer. This does not explain why children as young as one year old have to suffer. Yes, they have the ability to learn but they have no way of comprehending why they undergo hardships unlike most adults.
Asking people to remain steadfast, especially in their suffering like Job, could be much more than they can bear. If God is powerful enough to create the earth in seven days then he should have the ability to alleviate His people’s suffering. Not all people can remain pious in their hard times, especially based on the length of their suffering. It is wrong for people to expect the same outcome from suffering. It is strange that there are no provisions for unreligious individuals as to how they can deal with their sorrow. The easiest way for people to deal with their anguish is to try to rationalize the whole process. Asking them to react differently will be asking too much from them. Faith is important without a doubt. However, asking people to surrender their issues to a “god” they have not seen, does not bring people any closer to comprehending of suffering.
Works Cited
Kushner, Harold. S. The book of Job: When bad things happened to a Good person. New York: Nextbook : Schocken. 2012. Print.
