Two Sundays ago, our pastor preached about God speaking to Job \u201cout of a whirlwind\u201d (Job 38:1-7). Why a whirlwind? It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve asked for many years as I pondered this provocative chapter in Job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The image doesn\u2019t fit with our usual thought about whirlwinds (think \u201ctornado\u201d). Massive, violent destruction results from tornados. But whirlwinds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God\u2019s whirlwind is considerably different. God took Job on what one writer called \u201ca whirlwind tour of the cosmos\u201d and ignored Job\u2019s own suffering or fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what was God\u2019s intent? Well, perhaps God was simply trying to get Job to see that his life suffering is \u201csmall potatoes\u201d when compared to God\u2019s intricate creation scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be more gracious, perhaps God meant to remind Job that human humility is a core value when it comes to God-human relationships: \u201cI\u2019m God, and you aren\u2019t, so don\u2019t pretend you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While our problems \u2013 and how we deal with those problems \u2013 are important to us, they aren\u2019t as critical as we want them to be in the grand view of life. Ouch, that hurts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe our overreaction to that bigger truth-piece is what causes some of us to get violent in word or action. Yet others of us seem grateful that we don\u2019t have to be the world\u2019s problem-solvers. We\u2019re free to choose how we respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s almost like God is telling Job: \u201cYou live in a tornado, Job, filled with destruction that may not be of your making \u2013 or perhaps is. But bring me your violent fears, angers and suffering, and I\u2019ll offer you a whirlwind that expands your fuller vision of the world you live in. You decide where you want to live: in a violent tornado, or in a whirlwind where you will once again begin to trust, to have faith in a God greater than yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That faith is an earthy, self-honest faith. Old Testament teacher Walter Brueggemann, in his book \u201cFinally Comes the Poet,\u201d speaks of Job and faith like this: \u201c\u2026 Faith, if it is to survive knowingly and honestly, must live in an unjust world \u2026 Job learns that while the world may not be to his liking, the world will hold at its center because it is God\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, the world is not to our liking either. Violence in thought, word and deed is part of that world. Violence, in some form, is part of who we are as human. I hate to admit that of myself, of anyone, but it\u2019s a truth-piece we need to reckon with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m disgusted that our violent tendencies have a default hair-trigger, spraying verbal or physical destruction. Like bullying, or relentless disinformation, or when people verbally or physically attack school board members, teachers, health care workers, public officials, people with\/without COVID-19 masks or vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m deeply saddened when that hair-trigger demonizes another person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohandas Gandhi observed: \u201cTruth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.\u201d A reaction of violence is always surrounded by some cobweb of ignorance or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gandhi called violence a \u201cclumsy weapon which created more problems than it solved, and left a trail of hatred and bitterness in which genuine reconciliation was almost impossible.\u201d He wrote of India\u2019s fight for independence decades ago. But his wisdom rings true in the most personal of struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence ignores that \u201cyour truth\u201d could be as valid as \u201cmy truth.\u201d Violence is a sad and often tragic admission that my reaction to life inside of me has failed to cope with life outside of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violence is a tornado that hasn\u2019t yet allowed itself to meet God\u2019s whirlwind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rev. Paul Graves<\/strong> serves as the chair for the Council on Older Adult Ministries for the Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his latest blog post on the Greater NW News site, the Rev. Paul Graves reflects on the meaning of the whirlwind found in the biblical story of Job. He uses it to consider our human tendencies toward violence and the importance of recognizing our proper place in relation to God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,74],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-older-adult-ministries","8":"category-opinioneditorial"},"yoast_head":"\n