eureka

All righty, so I was just doing some late night reading before going to bed, working my way through Job. I was reading in chapter eight when Bildad instructs Job on exactly what he thinks Job ought to do, the ol' "well if I were you I'd..." shpeel. And I started to get frustrated thinking, "Well, you know what, Bildad? You're not Job. Let's take away every thing you hold near and dear to your heart and see if you thank and praise God quite so easily. Why don't you just take a seat and shutup." Okay, so maybe that's a bit harsh (it is rather passed my bed time). But I came to Job's defense. No one can know just how they will react to any given situation. Sure we'd all LIKE to think we would praise God ceaselessly, but the reality of it is that's not very likely...at all. But, this, of course, we all know, so on to my point. (It's odd, but I find myself getting worked up about this, and even in my blog I babble on and on about how ridiculous it is.)

I didn't get very far into the reading when I realized that I'm so defensive of him because he's a normal man. He's your next door neighbor, Phil. He's merely a decent guy trying to get by in life and live as righteously as possible, so that when he gets to Heaven, God may say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Now THAT is the icing of the oreo. Professor Sexson keeps talking about this oreo cookie like it's some magical, wonderful thing. But to me, it's just been a plain ol' oreo. Sure, I suppose it makes for a good metaphor, so I'd jot it down in my notes, then start doodling little oreos and other various dessert items all over my notebook while half listening to Prof. Sexson talk about icing and crust and prologue and epilogue and half daydreaming about food...(Sorry, Professor Sexson, I don't really mean it, I'm just trying to make a point. I actually find your class quite riveting!) But then, just now, after all this time and all the stories we've gone over, I've finally figured it out. Everything I've been missing in Sunday school, with their connect the dots worksheets and mini dramatizations and dumb felt boards - it was the icing! Job was an ordinary man, it's not natural for man to endure such pain and loss effortlessly. Yet in the end, he says to the Lord:

"I know that you can do all things [...] Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." -Job 42:2-5

Beautiful. The oreo ends taste so much better with the icing in the middle, don't they?

Well, now that I'm practically drooling all over my computer with all this cookie talk, I can return to bed satisfied.