The Book of Job

The Book of Job opens up with the Devil
Making a bet with God,
Which is odd,
But sort of explains the presence of evil.
Job complains
Of his boils and pains
And his life getting generally worse,
Being careful
While giving God this earful
Not to break out in a curse,
Always ready to praise
His mysterious ways
But just asking why -
Just wanting a cause -
That an upright man who followed the laws
Should be so beset.
And what does Job get?
An explanation?
Not so much.
He does get chided for being so out of touch
As to demand to understand
When he doesn’t know
What makes the universe go -
Wasn’t there for the creation.
But because he keeps a civil tongue in his head,
He eventually gets new children instead
To replace the ones that are dead,
And prospers again.
He never does get told about Satan’s bet.
My mind rebels against this tale, and yet…
And yet I come back to it when
I see someone good, to whom
There has been a visitation of doom,
And I think to myself it’s a myth
But there’s something herewith,
Something true
About what to do,
Namely to stand upright,
When forced to suffer through,
And not take random blame
And not grab at straws to explain
And not curse the universe
With a prayer for flame.