"Self"

Over the course of a few days, a simple experiment turned out to be a terrible tragedy. We were asked to watch our negative virtues and write them down when we notice something out of the ordinary, as well as to follow our bodies and pay attention to what pains or feelings we incur on a daily basis. These are my findings: I would have to say that I feel pain and anxiety on a daily basis much like the pain and anxiety and certainty that Job must have felt. For instance, I noticed that every morning I am very grumpy when i first wake up and find that I don't take constructive criticism from my boyfriend very well. I also realize that I feel nauseated throughout the day and that my anxiety springs from a sense of insecurity. The simple experiment got some interesting results, because last week my boyfriend's children's mother has a minor heart-attack which left us watching and caring for his 2 children unexpectedly. I know we were supposed to post a picture of the pains associated with 3 of the 7 days last week but I felt it rather imposing to post on something as tragic as a heart-attack so I figure I will put something that sorta sums up how I feel inside as of right now.

Picture found on Wikipedia Creative Commons at http://search.creativecommons.org/chakras

Job And Night

"Wiesel states that he sympathized with Job. After reading The Book of Job, how would you describe the similarities/differences between Wiesel and Job and their relationships with God? Compare the reactions of Job and Wiesel to their suffering and to the way their suffering affected their faith."


I think that Wiesel and Job faced the same test of faith. For Wiesel, staying alive depended solely on Wiesel's motivation to stay healthy and working. For Wiesel, faith was an unjustifiable weight that Wiesel couldn't carry. He mentions several times in his novel the fact that Faith for him changed over the years, and for so long he was angry with God, this would make Wiesel's reaction to the Nazi's test of the Jewish Faith, similar to Job's but with very distinct differences. For instance, Job was richly rewarded with everything he had lost being returned to him, something that to this day I bet Wiesel wishes could happen to him. Another difference is the way Wiesel was warned about what would happen to the Jewish people of his village but did nothing to stop it, where as Job had no warning. Some similarities between Job and Wiesel are how the both questioned God's motives for the things happening to them, and the spiritual growth that each one experienced because of what happened to them. Eventually Wiesel becomes, more wise as to the inner workings of God, just like Job did, but unlike Job, Wiesel overcame so much more, and yet his faith in God, although it faltered a little, is still there today.

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Accessed Feb 2, 2010