Hi Fighter,
I’ve been privileged once again to be featured as ‘Voice in the Wilderness’ on the Pulpit Fiction podcast, discussing this week’s reading from Job 23. Rather than write a second reflection today, I’m reprinting my Pulpit Fiction offering below. If you’d prefer to hear it read, just visit pulpitfiction.com and listen to this week’s podcast
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face. (Job 23;16-17)
Our reading this week is again from Job – the Patron Saint of the Primal Scream, the father of Angst – expressing his frustration (no … more than that – his exasperation). Where is God when you need God? Job never doubts that God is there. Job just can’t connect, and he does not understand why.
Interestingly, we’ve come to this reading from Job after spending some time in the book of Proverbs. It’s hard not to be struck by the contrast. The author of Proverbs said that wisdom stood on a street corner, shouting out to everyone who wanted to make sense of their lives, “listen to me”. Job says he’s been past that corner a thousand times and can’t find wisdom anywhere! And then, of course, you get the author of Ecclesiastes saying, “Wisdom? Yeah … I found it. Didn’t do much for me!”
It’s fascinating how the Wisdom literature in our Hebrew Bible critiques itself, and yet it’s not academic curiosity that keeps us coming back to the book of Job, any more than Job’s struggle itself is an academic one. Job isn’t just curious as to where God is hiding. Job doesn’t know how to live in a world where there is no justice.
We all like to quote Nietzsche – that “the person who has a why to live can endure almost any how”. That aphorism took on new meaning when I heard it from Victor Frankl, quoted in connection with his experience in Auschwitz. We need to find meaning in our lives, and we need to find meaning in our suffering. Frankl’s observation was that people could find meaning in multiple ways. Even so, this fundamental existential question is inevitably a religious one, and it is Job’s question.
As we read back over the history of the saints, we see that ‘the long night of the soul’ is something that we all go through. We experience the absence of God and, like Job, we struggle to find answers. Job does, of course, find answers that satisfy his yearning, but not yet. Not this week. Part of the realism of the book of Job is that it’s long and drawn out. There’s plenty of arguing and wrestling and pain that he has to go through yet, and the answers Job gets – they work for Job. Do they work for us?
My favourite Peanuts cartoon had Charlie Brown grieving the loss of yet another ball game. His friend, Linus, says, “man was born for trouble, Charlie Brown, as the sparks fly upwards.” Yes, he’s quoting from the book of Job (chapter 5, verse 7), and this leads to a vibrant discussion of the book of Job by the different members of Peanuts crew, ultimately leaving Charlie Brown alone, saying, “This isn’t a ball-team. It’s a theological seminary!”
I’m not going to delve further into Job today as this is not a theological seminary. We aren’t a ball-team either, of course. We are a community of sinners who live by the Grace of God in the cross of Christ (to use Bonhoeffer’s phrase). We struggle. We search for answers. We do not find them easily, and yet, along with our brother, Job, ‘we are not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers our faces.’ (Job 23:17)
Our Sunday Eucharist
We celebrated another wonderful Eucharist last Sunday. A big thank you to brothers, David Baldwin and Tom Toby. Unfortunately, Tom only managed a brief appearance as he was participating in a rally for Palestine and Lebanon. We were grateful for the time he gave us nonetheless, and I’ve published some one-minute shorts below that were extracted from our opening discussion where Tom was present.
Predictably, that opening discussion was focused on the tragic developments in Lebanon, where much of Tom’s family currently resides. For more such video shorts, visit our Sunday Eucharist Instagram page.
This Sunday I’m looking forward to having Father Mark and Rob Gilland with me on the panel again. Please join us live from noon at TheSundayEucharist.com and on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn or Streamyard. I look forward to sharing this Eucharist with you.
Let me work your corner
If you’d like to see my work continue, please click here to make a one-off donation, If you can afford a monthly contribution, sign up at Patreon.comand choose either:
Middleweight – $10/month (community mentoring)
- Enrol in the Fighting Fit training program
- Access member-only training videos
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- Get free access to silver level membership at SurefireWealth.com
Super-Middleweight $50/month (remote mentoring)
- All of the above +
- One-on-one mentoring via email, phone, or Skype
Heavyweight – $100/month (in-person mentoring)
- All of the above +
- Training with Father Dave’s Old School Boxing Academy
Superheavyweight – $200/month (intensive in-person mentoring)
- All of the above +
- One weekend per month at Binacrombi Bush Camp.
Every dollar helps keep the wheels turning – the websites, the newsletters, the broadcasts, the boxing club and the bush camp. Even so, it’s not a one-way process. I want to support you in return, so please fill out the Physical and Spiritual Fitness Assessment form and get it back to me, and then sign up at Patreon.com.
What’s On?
- Sunday, October 13th – Our Eucharist from noon @ thesundayeucharist.com and on Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Streamyard.
- Tuesday, October 15th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
- Thursday, October 17th – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
- Friday to Monday, October 18th to 20th – @Binacrombi. Please join me
- Saturday, November 9th–Father Dave vs. Tony Brazier. NSW Professional Master Title (6 rounds) @Cowra Showground
As you can see from the pic, it was a big weekend at Binacrombi last weekend, and included an unexpected visit from the bushfire brigade (centre of pic) who had to deal with a fire started by some trespassers!
My next weekend at Binacrombi may be my last there for a little while so if you’re looking for a boost to your physical and spiritual health, please sign up now. I may not be there much during November due to the number of fights I’m booked in for.
As mentioned in the calender, I’m fighting for the Australian Professional Masters title on November 9, and have had that booked in for some time. Last weekend though my beloved trainer, Grant, called me and asked me if I wanted to fight for a World Title the weekend before!
The Pan-Pacific Masters’ Games are being held on the Gold Coast between October 31st and November 3rd. As I’m apparently ranked no.2 in the region at the moment. Grant said that I only need to win this Pan-Pacific title, to claim the MBI World Title!
I told Grant that I couldn’t compete as an amateur as I was fighting professionally. He asked, “Have you been paid for your fights in the last twelve months?” I said, “No. I’m getting paid to fight the following week.” He said, “that’s the following week.”
So … I’m now enrolled to fight at the MBI (Masters Boxing International) Pan-Pacific titles in three weeks’ time. I’m still scheduled to fight the week following that in Cowra for the Australian Professional Masters title, and I may still be competing the week after that in Cairns (I’m trying to confirm that at the moment).
Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed comes to mind. It’s how the Kingdom of God works. All you see is a tiny seed doing nothing and then you spin around and … it’s an enormous weed with birds in its branches!
This is a huge opportunity for me and (I’d like to think) for all of us. I’m praying that the publicity from these events will generate more interest in our fitness training program, more participants in our Sunday Eucharist and, consequently, more funding to help keep Binacrombi and all our other activities going.
OK. I’m on board a plane as I write these closing paragraphs, coming in to land at Gold Coast airport. I’m here to spend two days with my darling daughter, Imogen. We’re taking the opportunity to go to Fight Nights at Movie World.
It’s something we used to do together every year prior to the lockdowns and I’m very excited to be back here with her now. Thank you to our friends, Grant and Cheryl, for giving us accommodation AND a car to use! We couldn’t do it without you. 😊
I almost feel guilty, taking a holiday like this when the world is in such turmoil. Even so, I’m reminded of the words of Saint Paul, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say ‘rejoice’” (Philippians 4:4). He wrote this from prison, anticipating his own imminent death. Even so, he saw in Christ a hope that transcended all his fears!
Like Saint Paul and Job, we too experience fear and doubt and pain, yet we also share in that great hope. Rejoice!
Your brother in the Good Fight,
www.fatherdave.org
www.fatherdave.com.au
www.fatherdave.net
www.father-dave.org
www.fatherdave.info
www.binacrombi.com.au
www.boxersforpeace.com
www.fightingfathers.com
www.fighting-fathers.com
www.fightshop.biz
www.prayersforsyria.com
www.savethesheikh.com
www.softwareresales.com
www.warriorweekends.com
www.thesundayeucharist.com
www.israelandpalestine.org
www.oldschoolboxing.academy
www.christiansandmuslims.com
www.christianswithdepression.com
P.S. I mentioned last week that I’m trying to launch our broadcasts on InFaith.
I haven’t got this fully sorted yet but would appreciate you downloading the InFaith app and I will do my best to have things up and running by Sunday. Please scan the QR code to download the InFaith app and then message me through it. 😊
P.P.S. And if you haven’t yet read “A Christian Reflection from Jerusalem” by Patriarch Michel Sabbah, it was forwarded to us by our friend, Brother Peter Bray (formerly of Bethlehem University). Highly recommended.
About Father Dave Smith
Preacher, Pugilist, Activist, Father of four
