And in the End

And man wears away like rot, like a garment eaten by moths.  Man born of woman, scant of days and sated with trouble, like a blossom he comes forth and withers, and flees like a shadow—he will not stay.  Job 13:28-14:2  Robert Alter

Wears away – Maybe you have to live a long time to really appreciate Job’s story.  If experience is any measure of truth, it appears that youth is wasted on those who don’t comprehend life’s transitory existence.  You have to recognize how near you are to the end before you really face your own psychological defenses.  The yetzer ha’ra will do just about anything to avoid confrontation with the reality of the grave.  “Wears away” is the right frame of mind.  It’s just not easily embraced.

bālâ: “to become old, to wear out.”  We should note the derivatives: “worn out, rages, destruction, not, nothingness, worthlessness, apart from, except, without.”  That’s where we are.  We just don’t like to acknowledge it.  Stairs hurt.  Exhaustion comes sooner.  Lines appear.  Eyesight dims.  Sleep escapes.  Appetite wanes.  Just wearing out.  Hard to face.  The modern world spends billions pretending Greek ideals are eternal.  But we all know the truth.  Wearing out. Old clothes.  Until we fully embrace this truth, we’re likely to follow every lie of the yetzer ha’ra.  Job’s story is reality therapy.

What should you do when you finally come to terms with your transitory existence?  Pretend that it doesn’t really matter because you will live eternally in heaven?  Distract yourself now while you wait for the other side?  Do what you can and hope for the best?  Take the money and run?  Job does none of these.  He stares at the grave and says, “Now, God, let’s talk.”  No avoidance.  No escape path.  No “pie in the sky by and by.”  Just a firm grip on the reality of his life.  Job is a “here and now” man.

Are you?  Am I?

Old clothes still have a use.  Stairs still need to be climbed.  A few lines on the face add character.  Glasses help.  So does a glass of wine with a meal.  What matters isn’t the fixation of the end but the attitude and actions in light of the end.  Moses started his real career at eighty.  Maybe you and I have a few good years left to really make a difference.  The yetzer ha’ra will distract you with its lies about never growing old.  The yetzer ha’tov says, “Let’s do something important today, and every day we have left.”  Maybe the Beatles were right.  “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Topical Index: wears away, bālâ, death, nothingness, Job 13:28, Job 14:1-2