Assorted notes

I'm not sure where some of these came from, but I'm attempting to compile them from several sometimes unannotated notebooks.

Principles from Job
I think these came from "A Sacred Sorrow" by Michael Card

1. If God's ways are truly beyond our comprehension then we must concede that there may well be reasons for suffering other than those we can perceive
2. If God's ways are truly beyond our comprehension then his blessings may well be other than those we can perceive
3. Pain and suffering are perfectly compatible with God's promise to bless his children; Loss of health and loss of wealth... those things we generally assume to be blessings from God... is perfectly compatible with God's promise of blessing
4. The Wisdom literature of the bible is not there to present us with perfect wisdom for living, but rather to show us the inadequacy of wisdom. Solomon bemoans the fact that though he was the wisest man on earth, wisdom was not enough.
5. Those who want a simple formula for their lives will not find it here.

In "The Prophetic Imagination", Walter Brueggemann says that one of the tasks of prophetic ministry is
"to penetrate the numbness in order to face the body of death in which we are caught. Clearly, the numbness sometimes evokes from us rage and anger, but the numbness is more likely penetrated by grief and lament. Death, and that is our state, does not require indignation as much as it requires anguish and the sharing in the pain."
I believe this is one of the ways God has chosen to use "Job: A Postmodern Opera of Biblical Proportions". It provides a musical, lyrical, poetic vehicle by which we share in the pain and anguish of Job, his wife and family, and even his friends. It is within that sharing that we become community, that barriers of race and religion are overcome, walls are torn down, hands are joined, and wounds are healed.

Three main themes in Job:

1. Basic reality of life
2. Moral dimension of life
3. The problem of suffering

Seen and unseen world are taking place side by side
Satan and the Unseen Council - satan called "God's prodigal son"; Angels are called "the sons of God"; the satan is "accuser, wanderer, cynic, tormentor"

Lesson to learn:

1. Learn to Expect Suffering
2. There is a bigger battle taking place 
3. Everything belongs to God
4. Worship God no matter what happens
5. Don't lose perspective