We Are Young
Job. I mean, I don’t want to get all biblical, because that’s not me and all that. Whatever. But Job. He suffered. God and Lucifer had a poker game, and Job was the bet, and any time God and Lucifer make someone, some actual person, the butt of a wager……well, that person is done. DONE.
So.
Job is the happiest, the most successful man in the universe. THE UNIVERSE. And, because of a bet, because God didn’t call Lucifer’s bluff or Lucifer didn’t go all Jennifer Tilly on God, didn’t shove his tits on the table along with his cards….well.
Job. Is. Screwed.
He’s sitting in a pit in sackcloth and ashes. He’s lost everything, and I mean EVERYTHING he cares about. He’s not young. Maybe he’s young enough to get it all back. Maybe he isn’t. Who knows? Because, he could live to be 732 or whatever in those days.
Perhaps.
IF his actual life expectancy isn’t part of the bet.
So, Job is sitting there in his pit. In sackcloth and ashes.
And, I’m going to make a diversion here. Because, I’m ADD. And, I’m bored with Job. I don’t care about his sackcloth, whatever the hell that is, and ashes. I care that today I had to climb a mountain. An actual volcanic rock covered with a smattering of dirt and scrub. I had to climb that geological mystery of a thing.
And, I am afraid of heights.
Going up, I am freaking out, because there are drop-offs and stuff. And, someone, some kind person, some saint, comes along and says, “You see that path? Right there? It’s easier. It’s not so steep. Not so scary. You should totally, TOTALLY take that one instead.”
“But, that’s not the best view,” I say.
“So what. It will be easier for you.”
“But, I don’t want easier. I want the view. I crave it all, man.”
“Suit yourself. You could curse your current situation and have it easier, but suit yourself.”
I kept climbing. It was muddy. And rocky. And slippery. And, there was this dog, this effing dog, that kept running under my feet and trying to make me look down, to see how high I was, how close I was to the top. A yippy, stupid, effing dog. And, in spite of that creature, that waste-of-hair-and-yapping-space, I made it to the top. I stood on a rocky crag, on top of the world, surveying the beauty of what I saw. Whatever. And, it didn’t matter that I could fall over the edge to my death. I didn’t care that the effing dog was trying to eat my lunch. I wanted to find that person who told me to take a different path, because it would be easier for me, and tell them, “Na-na-na-boo-boo! Look at me now!”
But, I had to come down from that promontory, that apex place.
Alone.
Which is harder. Going down is harder for us Acrophobes.
Still.
I thought of Job. Sitting in his hole. Waiting them all out. Winning the whole cache of chips for the good team, doubling his whole everything in the face of everyone who told him he wouldn’t. And, I thought, I’m not young anymore. Hell, I’m not even smart.
But.
I’m glad I stuck it out and saw that view.
This post is part of the series The Soundtrack of Life. If this is your first visit to the series, please click here for the first installment, click here for the second, click here for the third, click here for the fourth, here for the fifth, here for the sixth, herefor the seventh, here for the eighth, here for the ninth and here for the tenth. MTM wrote a great guest post, which you can find here. Thanks for your contributions and insights in the comments. They always enrich this blog, especially in a series like this one.
I don’t exactly see this character being Julie Andrews at the top of the mountain, Lou.
He or she is a little too, I don’t know, angry? Rough? In your face? The result of reading too much Gillian Flynn yesterday?
It was fun to write, though. It’s fun to use a different voice and have it kinda turn out.
I see you in the near future traveling by umbrella, fo sho.
That would be some trick.
As someone who had to attend a VERY conservative Baptist school as a kid, I LOVE the line, “I don’t want to get all biblical.” Me either!
Have a great weekend, Andra!
Hugs,
Kathy
You too, Kathy!
Your climber/hiker and I are kindred spirits.
I find that when I’ve worked hard for something…the view is so much sweeter.
It is, isn’t it? I enjoy climbing hikes, because the payoff is in the middle, and the downhill is less sweaty. Waterfalls are also great, but the work is after the payoff.
Good story! What mountain is volcanic? I didn’t realize we have any of those around here.
Job has always been an interesting character to me – not necessarily for himself, but for what the entire episode says about the nature of God.
Anyway, here is my favorite video and song by that same group.
The plutons are. God is what He is. I also love that song.
Wonderful post, Andra. The lesson is often in the “sticking it out” and climbing to the top, hard as it may be. Job is a mighty story.
A little side note. Our granddaughter’s name is Keziah, for one of the three daughters born to Job, after all his troubles. They were give inheritance after Job died – a big deal in those days. Everyone, including myself, went scurrying trying to find where it was in the book of Job, when our little Kezzie was named. No relevance to your post today, excepting your reference to the story.
Penny, the side notes and tangents are always interesting to me. I think that connection is awesome. A survivor of sorts. Or a gift. Or both.
Ha! I loved the dog. The effing dog. And I thought the Job thing was pretty cool, too. I was unaware that the Job thing hinged on a God Satan bet. Which makes the pragmatic “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away” even MORE pithy to my ears! (Or was that bet part of the fiction – I totally bought it.)
The bet was creative license. Made the whole scene more visceral.
As someone who has been with you when you claimed to be terrified I can firmly say that you are a wonder at meeting your fears with grace and determination. It is one of the things I most admire about you. You rarely let on how scared you were until afterwards. For that alone you deserve the reward of a fabulous view.
Thank you.
Beautiful view – where is that? Dinner was fun. Enjoy the rest of your time up here and I hope you’ll be back soon! Safe travels.
Sam’s Knob in Shining Rock Wilderness Area. Loved seeing you and Dan.
Frenetic, energetic post. Love the distracted voice. And the continuation of the Job story which was supposed to be the distracted hikers story. Cause Job talked frequently about all the pains, the troubles and wondered if he should just curse God and die. Way to weave one tale into another.
It always makes me happy when I experiment and it sort of works.
I prefer to think of those as following my inner creative voice. You too!
I have the same problem with heights. I love your photo but the whole time I was reading this post, I kept thinking about your climb down. Gah!!!
The down is so freaky. I could fall here. And here. And here. And pretty much everywhere.
Job. A favourite of mine. This post reminds me of your Churchill tweet the other day. Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. been a bit of a mantra for me, that has, these past few days.
Life does have a “never, never, never give up” quality to it, doesn’t it? Whatever’s got you expending energy, I hope you get what you want, Kate.
Love your song choice and the story of Job.
I’m sometimes loving the journey to the top, and other times I get scared and look down and take the the safe road.
Nothing wrong with either choice, as long as the choice makes us happy.
This song immediately came to me as I read your story…The only thing is, I don’t know if this is about god and the devil or god and Job.
You’re going to laugh, but I wrote my blog post for tomorrow listening to this one, Robert. And, somehow it worked. Thanks for always coming up with such great music over here. I hope the vacation has been a good break.
This post reminds me of why I prefer oceansides to mountaintops ~ great return for much less effort.
Great write, Andra. I thought you were writing about YOU at first . . . until you started describing the dog as a waste of hair and yapping space.
Actually, life does inform fiction sometimes, because I recently completed a hike where I really got mad at a couple of dog owners.
I always enjoy it when you go into character and use a different voice. Interesting use of such a great biblical character, Job. There are so many ways to interpret the story and no matter how many I’ve heard discussed I’m never comfortable with a one of them! I like the parallel to determination. It’s entirely too easy to miss the view by giving up. Well done! Debra
I’m glad you got that it was a voice, Debra. Some readers might think it my own.
For much of my life, I have resisted re-imagining or reinterpreting scenes from the Bible. It feels disrespectful to me somehow. But, thinking the whole thing came from a card game is so relatable. People get it. So, I couldn’t resist.
The dog made me laugh. And i think it’s actually more dangerous going down because of where your center of gravity is placed in relation to the ground.
I can’t stand going down because I can see how far I can fall.