In this poem a geber shows up on the scene. A man (what kind of man and exactly “who” this man is has been the subject of much conjecture) who has experienced the pain, the suffering and the exile firsthand. He then launches into a description of what he has befallen him: his skin and flesh grow old, his bones have been broken, he has been besieged and surrounded with bitterness and hardship, he dwells in darkness like those long dead, he has been walled in, and weighed down with chains. When he calls for help his prayer is shut out, his way has been barred with blocks of stone, his paths have been made crooked, he was dragged from the path, mangled and left me without help, he was the target of arrows, his heart was pierced, he was a laughingstock of all the people, they mock him all day long, he is filled with bitter herbs, has only gall to drink, his teeth has been broken with gravel, he has been trampled in the dust, deprived of peace, he has forgotten what prosperity is and now says, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”
His response to all of this? The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. W.T.F.? Seriously? How can this be? How can one name all that has befallen them and then turn to the one causing all the heartache and express trust? O’Connor writes, “When you meet the geber, you meet someone with tangled theology. Hope and horror stand side by side. Hope and honesty stand side by side. Hope and contradiction stand side by side.” And that’s the thing about hope - it doesn’t ignore the crap and the hard circumstances. It stands right beside them.
Many have been told that hope is to the exclusion of the raw emotions expressed by the geber - you either have hope, or you succumb to your circumstances. Here, however, is someone who has hope, and sits with humiliation, deprivation, suffering, bitterness, and the horrors of what he’s witnessed. Isn’t this how it often is? That hope is near to all these other circumstances? It’s possible to say in the same breath, “God is good” and “This is hard and it hurts and I’m getting screwed all in the same breath.”
January 9, 2022: No More Words - Michael Hidalgo
January 2, 2022: How It Begins - Michael Hidalgo
December 19, 2021: Sit At My Right Hand - Michael Hidalgo
December 12, 2021: A Story of the Gods - Michael Hidalgo
December 5, 2021: Quid Pro Quo - Bekah Stewart
November 28, 2021: These Belong to You - Michael Hidalgo
November 21, 2021: Look On The Inside - Michael Hidalgo
November 14, 2021: No Ear, No Job - Amanda Lum
November 7, 2021: The One About Selling Everything - Maggie Knight
October 31, 2021 - Less is the New More - Michael Hidalgo
October 24, 2021: On Not Getting It Sorted - Bekah Stewart
October 17, 2021: What Are You Talking About? - Michael Hidalgo
October 10, 2021: A Sacred Presence - Michael Hidalgo
October 3, 2021: There Are Only Participants - Michael Hidalgo
September 26, 2021: This is For Everyone - Michael Hidalgo
September 19, 2021: No One Said It Would Be Easy - Dave Neuhausel
September 12, 2021: Are You Actually Happy? - Michael Hidalgo
September 5, 2021: What Do YOU Mean? - Amanda Lum
August 29, 2021: Setting Forth - Michael Hidalgo
August 15, 2021: With Jesus - Kay Morrison
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Life After Ministry
Cast The Word
Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
The Bible Recap
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)