If we turn to that extraordinary poem ‘Job’, we find in its closing chapters what might be a conversation around a hospital bed. The anguished cries of Job and the two-penn’orths contributed by the pundits are finally countered by God. He summarily shreds the well-intended but hardly helpful outpourings he has been hearing. Bildad had referred scathingly to ‘long-winded ramblings of an old man’ (Job 8.2). So much for the pot calling the kettle black. We are, remember, looking at a poem, not a treatise or a political charter.
In this illuminating poem God does not mince matters. ‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?’ he asks. Consider the cosmic and geological know-how required of a creator. Then he embarks on a survey of natural history. What does Job know about animal reproduction, or the habits of horses, hawks and hippopotamuses? And to top it all there’s the crocodile. As in Blake’s poem ‘Tiger’ we here face head-on the question: ‘Who would have dared to create such a killing machine?’ Whatever view we take of the processes that led to the appearance of such a master predator we have to accept that nature is red in tooth and claw. It is no easy matter to square that with our conception of a loving God. And, incidentally, another animal poem, Brooke’s ‘Heaven’, likewise makes us think how we are no better than fish when we seek to imagine heaven. What good would a heaven on dry land be to a fish? Are we human beings any better at envisaging heavenly bliss?
‘Job’ is a poem and a curious one. We all know the beginning and end of it but most of us flounder as we read through the speechifying that forms the main part of the menu. Like ‘Revelation’, ‘Job’ takes us into a foreign world. It is the world of the Radio Four religious discussion where stupendous ideas are picked up, picked over and then put away to make way for some other talking-point.
‘Job’ offers us a staged encounter, a formal event such as the ancient Greek philosophers were accustomed to conduct and write up. Of course, in the Greek approach there would never be a participant called God. Job ends up by being put firmly in his place by his maker. We always have to be aware that we are dealing with a literary convention. But it is a literary convention that can open our eyes, fire up our imagination and prod us into weighing up our own musings on these matters.
BUSY BUSHBURY
St Mary’s church, Bushbury, Wolverhampton has been busy with a £400k project to secure the roof and add facilities. Leading the ministry team of three churches is Ian Poole.
BUSY BORDERS
Christopher Jones is Rector of Christ Church, Duns, a member of the Berwick Episcopal group which includes St Ebba’s, Eyemouth and St Mary’s, Coldstream. In the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Vestry has an important role. At Duns a vestry worship group takes care of the details of worship – organ, sound system, print etc., setting up services and appraising them.
HOME OF JAM
Fazakerley owes its fame to Hartley’s Jam, which had its origin there. It owes its name to the Anglo-Saxons who saw it as a boundary to a field with a clearing. Its two parish churches, St Paul’s and Emmanuel are in the care of a team led by Andy Brown. He had 18 years in the civil service before being ordained.
DIGGING IN PARAGUAY
St Paul’s church, Skelmersdale, Ormskirk has sent members to Paraguay to dig wells and build a church. This is part of its worldwide outlook. Leading the ministry team is Christ Spittle.
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