If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness, if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister, where then is my hope—who can see any hope for me? – Job 17:13-15

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 7, 2018): Job 17

Do you know the taste of fear, that bitter metal flavor that wells up from somewhere deep within you and then sits on your tongue as if it has nowhere else to go? William Shakespeare wrote his tragedy “Macbeth” about King Macbeth of Scotland and a civil war in Scotland during the 11^th century C.E. But the legend of the Scottish Red King probably belongs more to the hands of Shakespeare than it does to those of history. Shakespeare imagines Macbeth sitting in his castle, fearing what was about to come next, realizing the taste of fear, one that until now he had forgotten even existed when he pens the immortal words that most of us remember from the play.

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

The words that Shakespeare places into the mouth of Macbeth could have just as easily been used to sum up the struggle of Job. It is this kind of hopelessness that he feels. He has fretted his hour on the stage, he had possessed much of what someone dreams to possess, but now it is all gone. What is it that he has to look forward to in the near or distant future? The near future is a depressing possibility, but the distant future is seeming less and less possible with each passing minute. At one point, Job believed that there was a meaning to life, but now he is not so sure. In the end, he is convinced that he will pass from this existence without making a mark. His life truly was “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

The reason why the words of Shakespeare have left a mark on us is that this is the universal reality, at some point, of all of our lives. The story of Job, if you can erase the beginning and the ending, is one of the most depressing stories ever told. From the point of view of Job, all he can long for is the darkness of the grave, because that would be better than the reality that he is being forced to live in this moment. Meaning is lost. His moment on the stage is gone. And in every one of our lives, there are moments when we understand what Job is feeling. It is in those moments that we need to be reminded that our stories also have a beginning and an end, and a conversation that is taking place in heaven over us. There is meaning in each of our lives, just as there was meaning in Job’s, because God has placed it there. And in our darkest moments, that is the understanding that we need to carry with us, as we believe in the hope that resides in even our tomorrows.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 18