I gave him the wasteland as his home, the salt flats as his habitat. – Job 39:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 18, 2012): Job 39

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

It is with these words that T. S. Eliot starts off his poem “The Waste Land.” The poem, known for its obscure nature, was written during a tough time in Eliot’s life. He had been diagnosed with a nervous disorder which had prompted him to request a two month leave from his employment at a bank. And with the opening lines of the poem, the author seems to be struggling with the idea of a return to life – April’s cruelty lies in its promise to return what has been dormant for a time to a productive life. For Eliot, the return is not a good thing – the promise of possible life seems to scare him.

I am convinced that there is a purpose behind all of creation. (Okay, I struggle with the mosquito, but I am sure I can figure it out if I try hard enough.) But it isn’t that all of creation exists with the same purpose. Every part of creation has its purpose, but it is a different purpose. Every creature has a habitat that it finds functional and productive.

For instance, take the wild donkey. Unlike the domesticated donkey, the wild ass (and biologists are not even sure if the two similar looking animals are related) excels in the desert where everything else seems to die. The wild ass finds the promise of life where every other animal only seems to find death.

God’s message is that we not only need to understand the seasons of our lives; that is, that we need to understand that we will have times that are more productive than other times, and at the same time that we can’t be afraid of April and the promise of life. But we also need to understand that purpose and life is found in every season of our life. Job had gone through a very purposeful and productive time in his life, but while his circumstances had changes, the existence of a purpose hadn’t changed. Even though Job found himself in a wasteland, he could still find a purpose - even there. After all, the wild ass thrives in such an environment.

We can wish that the dark times had never arrived on our doorstep. But in choosing that path, we will also miss all of the opportunity that God has for us in the middle of our “Waste Land.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 40