May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. – Job 3:7

Today's Scripture Reading (August 14, 2024): Job 3

There is a common belief that most babies are born at night. Apparently, that is not true, although most babies do show up just in time for breakfast, with 8 a.m. being the most common hour of birth for most babies. In case you are wondering, Tuesday is the most common birth day, followed closely by Monday. Just out of interest, I checked the calendar, and my wife and I, as well as both our kids, were all born on Mondays. I'm not sure what that means for our family.

However, the most common time for a child to be born outside a hospital is between midnight and 4:59 a.m. However, 98% of children are born in a hospital, and that tends to be the quietest time in the maternity ward. For some reason, while the hospital might be quiet between midnight and 4:59 a.m., infant mortality is over ten percent more likely for a child who is born during the dark hours of the day. Again, in my family, both of our children were born in a hospital, and during the quiet hours of midnight to 4:59 a.m.. I just missed that window; I was born at 5:00 a.m.

But regardless of when a baby is born, it is always a time of celebration. A new life has been brought into the world. Some might wonder if it is right to bring new life into our broken world, but the reality is that birth is a celebration of hope. Maybe this child will be the one to bring peace and healing to a world in need or even just to our families. The birth of a child is a day that is filled with potential. And it is a moment when we can redouble our efforts to improve this world so that our children can lead a better life than we do.

It seems that Job believes that he was born at night (I don't know if it was a Monday or Tuesday). And the night that Job was born, there was a celebration about this new child that had been brought into the world. It was a time of joy because of the unlimited potential existing in this small bundle lying with her mother.

However, in this moment of Job's life, he no longer sees a reason for the celebration that took place on the day he was born. He argues that the night of his birth should be seen as barren or lacking life. Not only has his life not yielded anything positive, but the death of his children meant that his descendants would make no impact. Not only was the day of his birth without hope, but the days of his children's birth were without help as well. As Job looks back at his life, he believes that he has not made a difference in the world in which Job lived; it was as if he had never lived. At the end of his life, Job thought he would not have left any kind of mark on the world in which he had lived. The night of his birth had indeed been barren, and there was no cause for any shouts of joy.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 4