Job (from the Bible) must've been a gambler
At Mass this morning, something about the first reading instantly struck me as something I would read from a buried gambler on SBR. To place it in context, I'm going to summarize what has already happened in the Book of Job before we get to this reading, with a gambler's slant on things.
Satan has had occasion to come before God, mostly to talk shit. God lets him rant and then asks, "What about Job? He loved me even before he was hitting 5-team parlays!" Satan replies that Job is a poser and only lives a pious life because Job has lots of money, a big family and a beauty pageant wife. Lucifer (not Loucifer) says it wouldn't last if Job was 'capping like DacBietViet, went broke and he lost the things dear to him.
God decides to prove Satan wrong and proceeds to ream poor ol' Job with no lube. He can't pick a winner, loses all his money and cool shit, and then a tornado comes and flattens his house, killing all his children. Job gets herpes and breaks out with sores all over his body, and his wife is about ready to throw in the towel.
The next day, Job's gambling buddies (who we'll call JJ, Nicky, and Richie) hear about his misfortune and come by his flattened house to try to cheer him up. Job finally has a sympathetic audience, and he proceeds to lay it all out for his buddies. He can't stand God, he hates life, and wonders why those who suffer are allowed to linger. His friends don't have much to respond with, so they just sit down and keep Job company.
Finally JJ, the oldest and most prominent of the three, decides on something to say to Job. JJ still believes that only the wicked suffer, and not the just. He asks Job what evil deeds he's been hiding from his friends, because it must've been something big for God to kick his ass this badly. Glory holes, ace hookers, stealing crude oil, bonus whoring,....JJ knows Job must've been up to all of this and more to come to such ruin.
Job tells JJ he's full of shit and to shut up, that he's always lived a good, clean life with no major sin. He's never hidden anything from his friends, there were no ace hookers or plates full of cocaine, no blowjobs for landlords or shilling for C-rated books. Even in the beginning, when all Job had was cole cuts and oriole cookies, he always shared with whoever came by. The world is just not fair, and Job's had it, he just wants to die. Realizing that even his friends are just angry degenerates without a clue, he gets up and says:
"Human life is a struggle, isn't it? It's a life sentence to hard labor. Like field hands longing for quitting time and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,...
I'm given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—months of aimlessness, nights of misery! I go to bed and think, 'How long till I can get up?' I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I'm fed up!
I'm covered with maggots and scabs. My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus. My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles, and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life! God, don't forget that I'm only a puff of air! These eyes have had their last look at goodness."
I heard those words this morning and knew Job was barreled in. Somehow, my gambling brought me to greater enlightenment, even if it's only a keener appreciation of suffering.
Satan has had occasion to come before God, mostly to talk shit. God lets him rant and then asks, "What about Job? He loved me even before he was hitting 5-team parlays!" Satan replies that Job is a poser and only lives a pious life because Job has lots of money, a big family and a beauty pageant wife. Lucifer (not Loucifer) says it wouldn't last if Job was 'capping like DacBietViet, went broke and he lost the things dear to him.
God decides to prove Satan wrong and proceeds to ream poor ol' Job with no lube. He can't pick a winner, loses all his money and cool shit, and then a tornado comes and flattens his house, killing all his children. Job gets herpes and breaks out with sores all over his body, and his wife is about ready to throw in the towel.
The next day, Job's gambling buddies (who we'll call JJ, Nicky, and Richie) hear about his misfortune and come by his flattened house to try to cheer him up. Job finally has a sympathetic audience, and he proceeds to lay it all out for his buddies. He can't stand God, he hates life, and wonders why those who suffer are allowed to linger. His friends don't have much to respond with, so they just sit down and keep Job company.
Finally JJ, the oldest and most prominent of the three, decides on something to say to Job. JJ still believes that only the wicked suffer, and not the just. He asks Job what evil deeds he's been hiding from his friends, because it must've been something big for God to kick his ass this badly. Glory holes, ace hookers, stealing crude oil, bonus whoring,....JJ knows Job must've been up to all of this and more to come to such ruin.
Job tells JJ he's full of shit and to shut up, that he's always lived a good, clean life with no major sin. He's never hidden anything from his friends, there were no ace hookers or plates full of cocaine, no blowjobs for landlords or shilling for C-rated books. Even in the beginning, when all Job had was cole cuts and oriole cookies, he always shared with whoever came by. The world is just not fair, and Job's had it, he just wants to die. Realizing that even his friends are just angry degenerates without a clue, he gets up and says:
"Human life is a struggle, isn't it? It's a life sentence to hard labor. Like field hands longing for quitting time and working stiffs with nothing to hope for but payday,...
I'm given a life that meanders and goes nowhere—months of aimlessness, nights of misery! I go to bed and think, 'How long till I can get up?' I toss and turn as the night drags on—and I'm fed up!
I'm covered with maggots and scabs. My skin gets scaly and hard, then oozes with pus. My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles, and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life! God, don't forget that I'm only a puff of air! These eyes have had their last look at goodness."
I heard those words this morning and knew Job was barreled in. Somehow, my gambling brought me to greater enlightenment, even if it's only a keener appreciation of suffering.
