JOB'S JOBS 3--Husssh!
In an early scene of Meredith Willson's 1962 Oscar-winning
musical score for The Music Man, Robert Preston belts out--
"Oh, we got trouble my friends! Right here in River City! With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for Pool! Oh, we got trouble, trouble, trouble trouble! Gotta' figger how to keep 'r kids moral after school!"
Throughout the refrain, a chorus echoes the soloist--
"Trouble, trouble, trouble trouble!"
At least this time, Broadway and scripture agree.
Just as "normal" as having trouble, is having friends who try to help but make it worse! They blabber! Best friends everywhere offer blame and solutions while their depressed pals think, "I didn't ask them to fix this! I just needed to tell somebody who cares!"
Poor 'ol Job was no different. By the final chapter, God calls Job's friends' advice "folly." (Job 42:8,NRSV) But, they started right!
"Now when Job's three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home... They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore thier robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground, and NO ONE SPOKE A WORD TO HIM, for they saw that his suffering was very great." (Job 2:11-13,NRSV) Job's friends saw how badly he was suffering and DIDN'T BLAB! THEY HUSSSSSSSHED!
The New Testament concurs on our cosmic condition. "The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay... We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now." (Romans 8:21) The planet is singing the same tune as its creatures, "Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble!" The World is groaning from the suffering it hosts! And, God the Holy Spirit is praying for Earth's sufferers. "That Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." (Romans 8:26) God is our supreme model! When human suffering is at its worst, God the Holy Spirit doesn't use words.
Words get in the way! He enters right into the patients' suffering and hurts along with them. Compassionate friends shouldn't let words get in the way, either. Just sit with them. Cry with them. Sing with them. Hold them. Get a cool cloth for them. Find fresh tissues for them. Offer to feed them, wash their kitchen floor, fill their car with gas, take their Kids to school. DON'T BLAB. HUSSSSSSH.
God's own example can't be beat! Adopt JOB'S JOB 3 and Hussh.
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