Elihu and Elections

 I too will have my say; I too will tell you what I know. -Job 32:17 (NIV)

Waking up late and a busy day prevent me from writing much in the way of a personal reflection on today's scripture readings. I did read the texts but nothing really spoke to me as I read. When that happens, I usually consult a commentary to inspire or challenge me. It was in so doing this morning that I perhaps found something worth sharing.

In Job 32, we are introduced to Elihu. He's angry at Job because Job thinks that he is blameless in what's been happening to him. He's angry at Job's three friends because they have not successfully put Job in his place and forced him to realize that it's Job and not God who is responsible for what's happening. After Job and his friends have stated their case and had their say, Elihu speaks his mind.

This is where I find Carol Newsom's New Interpreter's Bible Commentary helpful: "Elihu is a cautionary example of the temptation that besets all interpreters. There is a temptation to use one's authoritative role in an improperly controlling fashion. By selecting some issues and passing over others in silence, by subtle distortions of what the text says, or by caricaturing and ridiculing other interpretations, one can make it appear that there is no other way to understand the text and the issues it presents."

Though I haven't said it as eloquently as Carol Newsom, that's how I have sized up this election season in our country. Candidates select some key issues while totally ignoring others. Candidates distort the positions of their rivals and ridicule anyone who doesn't see things exactly the way they (or their party) sees them. Issues become over-simplified and the suggestion is made that there is only one way to solve the problem and that's a particular party or ideology's way. There appears to be very little room for common ground.

May God grant us the grace on this election day to not ridicule those who don't think like us, to avoid the temptation to over-simplify the issues we face, or to be so blinded by our own interpretation and ideology that we fail to see truth in whatever way it presents itself.



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If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, this weekend's readings are Job 33 and 1 Corinthians 1-3.