Assignment 9: Wisdom Literature

It is human nature to try to make things seem a little better. His optimism is a mechanism for him and his people to cope with the harsh reality of being prisoners. Elie sees his fellow Jews being killed and beaten for no other reason than their religion. He feels like his God has died. He loses his touch on reality due to the trauma of his situation. He does well while his father is around. He uses his father for strength to get through this. He also listens to him as a voice of reassurance. Once his father dies, things get harder for Elie to cope.
Personally, I think I would completely lose the will to live. I would try to keep my strength in God. I think even the best Christians would have a hard time trying to keep their faith with God when all of this awful stuff is going on around them. I can not even imagine what Elie must have seen and experienced. There is no way a person can return to a normal state of mind after going through the holocaust.
The different perspectives of the wisdom literature, such as the focus of practical wisdom and speculative wisdom, help people cope with suffering in different ways. Practical wisdom is teaching someone how to live their daily life. Speculative wisdom is when questions are asked about life. For example, the book of Job shows a man that had it all and watched it all get taken away. He never questions God’s authority; he knows that God has some reason behind his actions. Job continues to endure, he never curses God and he never gives up on him. This story should help people realize that things will get bad, but they can always get worse.
My father has been a renal failure patient for about four years now. I have watched one of the strongest men I know turn into someone who needs to be taken care of pretty much all the time. After my father’s car accident, which sped up the onset of the renal failure, I feel like things have changed. My father sometimes must use oxygen and a walker. This breaks my heart. Fathers are supposed to be a source of strength. Now I feel I must be my father’s strength as he battles this illness. As I watch my father suffer I have been reading my Bible, hoping for a word of comfort and understanding. The last time he was in the hospital and I was having an especially hard time, I read some of the wisdom proverbs. I don’t remember what exact one it was now, but I remember reading it and thinking “My father is alive, things could be worse. I should praise God for the little blessings that he bestowed upon me. Things could only get worse if I didn’t give God the credit he was due.” This Proverbs helped me get through a time of suffering. Surprisingly, this whole experience has brought me closer to my family and God, which is evidence that God does work in mysterious ways.