3 Lessons From The Trials Of Job

There are many joyous events in the bible.

There are loads of suffering too. A lot. The book of Job highlights a unique example of suffering. I call it unique because, unlike many biblical examples, it shows a three-dimensional view of Job's plight.

Firstly, we have a divine background to the events that transpired, which was the conversation between God and the Accuser.

Secondly, it shows us the reactions of Job's family and friends - people close to him.

Thirdly, we get to know what Job thinks.

If there is anything to take away from these three different views, it is that:

1. GOD IS OMNIPOTENT - HE DOES WHAT HE WILL. However, we can take comfort that everything He does is for His glory and our eternal joy (if Job' story is anything to go by). Also, we can learn that the end of a thing is better than its beginning. Job suffered, but God recompensed him in ways he never thought was possible.

2. EVEN THE BEST THEOLOGY CANNOT CAPTURE GOD'S INTENTIONS. Job's friends were right in saying God punishes the wicked, but rewards the righteous. They were echoing what God's word, what He Himself had said (Isaiah 13:11; Proverbs 11:21). However, we know that this theology was inaccurate in Job's case - he was not a wicked man and he did nothing wrong; yet he suffered. This teaches us that compassion and mercy are key in dealing with suffering, whatever our perspectives about the situation. Just like Job's friends, judgmental attitudes won't help us, neither will it help the sufferer.

3. OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF LITTLE OR NO CONSEQUENCE TO GOD. Though Job bragged about his own goodness, the response God gave him was less-than-flattering. Thinking we are more than we are worth (even if we are right), is not really smart when it comes to transacting with the Creator. We are better seeking his grace and pleading for His favour. It this sounds a bit demeaning, it's not; for without Him, we are nothing.

Whatever fears are, whatever we are striving with, we must endeavour to nurture a bit of hope (Romans 5:4) based on the knowledge that nothing lasts forever (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and that God is working actively for our good, even when we have no clue about why we are going through so much pain.

May the peace of God be with you.

Ignorance Can Be Beneficial

The Demonic Bible School For Demons - Lesson IV

Review: Summer Requiem: A Book Of Poems

Title: Summer Requiem: A Book Of Poems Hardcover: 80 pages Publisher: W&N (12 Feb. 2015) Category: Poetry

 
Many thanks to New Books Magazine for review copy.

EU Referendum

The Demonic Bible School For Demons - Lesson III

Review: The Aetherlight: Chronicles Of The Resistance

Many thanks to BuzzPlant for review copy.

The Demonic Bible School For Demons - Lesson II

Modern-Day Politics

The Demonic Bible School For Demons - Lesson I

The Benefit Of Poverty

You can discern the true nature of anything under the sun by observing what it permits and what it doesn't. For example, you can judge a social club by the members it solicits. You can perceive the true nature of a country by what it condemns and punishes; you can also discern its soul by what it lets go. Even precious metals accept some elements into themselves and reject others. Hence, when Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God, He reveals the nature of the kingdom as well as the quality that diminishes one’s chances of taking hold of it.

Being rich (having loads of money) is an amazing state of being. Except you are a kid, I don’t need to explain what kind of experiences are at your disposal if you are rich man or woman. Having a lot of money removes a lot of this life’s obstacles and restrictions. In short, you have the power to do and achieve more.

Most people envy the rich, but having excess money has its set of burdens - some of which are considerable and wearisome. In his book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell highlights one of the unique difficulties of being rich, especially in the area of parenting. Gladwell believes it is easier for the poor to parent a normal and well-adjusted child than the rich. For example, if an 18-year-old son of a poor person asks his parents for a Toyota Prius, it is a bit easier to dissuade the kid from such wild fantasy, especially if the parents are sharing one decrepit car between each other. On the other hand, it is more difficult for a rich parent to say no, particularly if there is a Bentley or two outside the porch.

In terms of parenting, wealth contains a tiny seed of destruction in that it has the potential to lull the rich into settling for a convenient and conflict-free zone at a cost they are willing to pay for. And since future costs are unquantifiable and sometimes non-existent, such get deferred until a later date.

On the other hand, circumstances force the poor to live on the edge of combustible realities. Every incident matters - a tiny decision can plunge them into the abyss of further hardship and it can also bring a tiny stroke of fortune that lasts for a little while. Being poor can sometimes be like playing an RPG game where you have to live on a single round of consumable life compared to those with an excess of five lives or more. As a result, you tend to agonise over every choice at every turn because the consequences are considerable.

Because the poor walk this fine line, every penny is literarily earned. Every advantage that comes their way falls by the application of hard graft and labour. For these reasons, it is easier for the poor to be hyped up about little favours that come with less work. The destitute are more like to be thankful for tiny blessings and see them as chances to cool off - a respite from constant exertion of energy. And when the poor fail and fall into the abyss, their feelings can sometimes be much of resignation bordering on indifference. Because they live on the edge of despair and hardship, they tend to consider little problems as irrelevant.



The rich, on the other hand, have several cushions that nudge them away from the abyss. They possess many sanctuaries that protect them from the sharp jaws of most calamities. The light of their wealth can sometimes shine so brightly that it obscures them from seeing the darkness and myriad of spiritual influences roaming around.

Since humans are sensitive to the material and the rich have many of their materials met, it tends to blocks out any other influences outside of that bubble. This is why it tends to surprise the world (as well as the wealthy themselves) when an exceedingly rich person falls off the edge into the abyss. And compared to the poor, most wealthy people’s level of acceptance and composure in a fallen state is pretty low.

Mortification of the flesh, whether we admit it or not, is fairly easier for the poor than the wealthy. A rich person has easy access to many of the world's baggage in his grasp and can sometimes have difficulty letting go. But the destitute doesn’t have to contend with that kind of problem.

It is worth keeping in mind that because it is easy for the poor to let go doesn't necessarily reflects a great strength of will or spirit, but more like circumstances make it easier for them to sometimes make spiritually good decisions. Or put in another way, circumstances made the decision for them.

All in all, I think there is no profit in having a rich person's mentality. It is better to have a poor man's mentality instead. My definition of a poor man’s mentality is that which recognises that what he or she owns isn't truly their own. Such mind recognises the futility of life and material possessions. It is not content with chasing job success at the expense of peace of mind, family and the well-being of the soul.

Having a poor man's mentality doesn't mean you aren't generous to people, for generosity has little to do with how much or how little you have. Generosity is dependent on empathy and how much attachment you have to what you own.

A person with lots of money can always cultivate a poor man's mentality by developing empathy, appreciation and refusing to derive a sense of worth from their financial status. This is always a good place to start.

6 Tips From Neil Gaiman About Writing & Publishing

The View From The Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman is a collection of his speeches, interviews, and essays for over two decades. The View From The Cheap Seats is packed with valuable advice as well as insights from a man who, in the process of striving to be himself, created amazing works like Coraline, The Sandman, American Gods, etc.

What I took away from The View From The Cheap Seats are six of what Neil Gaiman calls the "wisdom" he's acquired in the world of comic book creation. This "wisdom" is relevant to anyone in the business of creating stories, whether through illustration or writing (freelance or otherwise).

Let's start with the first:

1. Big is not necessarily bad. Small is not necessarily good.
Because few big publishing firms have a reputation of ripping creative people off, some people prefer to publish with small publishing companies as a way of insuring themselves or sticking it up to the man. However, Neil Gaiman says this does not mean a thing as there are times when publishing with small companies might hurt you. He says:

This really is something it took me ages to learn. I kept doing projects for small, more independent companies because I was convinced that, in my case, DC Comics was a monolithic and ultimately evil organisation that was just waiting for me to lower my guard before they screwed me ....
It didn't happen. DC were easily the most amenable to reason, accessible, and financially reliable of all the publishers I've dealt with. Which is not to say there was not and sometimes still isn't a great deal of frustration in dealing with some of the departments at DC.
For this, one can forgive many things.
In retrospect, my one regret with Eclipse was that I didn't audit their accounts years before they went under. Their figures made no sense, and they would only send out royalties if threatened. On some level, I knew that there had to be fraud of some kind going on, but Eclipse was only caught when Toren Smith moved his comics from Eclipse to Dark Horse, and his royalties shot up, despite that fact the deal was the same and the sales were constant.

2. Learn How To say No
This has been the bane of many creatives in this modern age and a huge reason for us being taken advantage of by people who wants to use us for their own advancement. This has fostered a low-pay culture and a race to the bottom where a lot of writers are just happy to have projects to do in return for a pittance. Neil said this doesn't have to be so. He says:

This is still the one I have the hardest time with. I think it's part of the freelance mentality: we so used to hustling, to going out and desperately peddling out skills, hoping that someone will be impressed enough by them or moved to raw pity enough by our plight to give us work, that we learn to say yes to everything.
I remember, as a starving freelance writer, in the early eighties, I would blithely proclaim competence in anything, if there was a check attached. Which meant I often found myself utterly out of my depth...
Most things I've done in retrospect were astonishingly stupid ideas....next thing you know there are unreadable, even offensive comics with your name on them that you never wrote in the world. Or whatever. It took me longer to learn that you can say no. And it's an easy thing to say. It helps define your boundaries.

3. Get it in writing. Or put it in writing
If you are getting on a project with remuneration involved, get the terms in writing. Any agreement must be made via a written communication. Failure to do this have resulted in pain for many creatives. Don't make a mistake of having a verbal agreement alone without a written confirmation backing it up. Neil Gaiman covers this in few words:

...those times I haven't put something in writing, I've regretted it.

4. Everything is negotiable
Haggle. Discuss terms - even after you think it's already set in stone. Probe, ask questions. and keep an open mind. If you don't ask, you might not get. As creatives, we can sometimes be timid in our approach to business. Neil Gaiman says we need to be bold and ask questions about anything on our mind. If we feel a contract needs to be negotiated because we think it could be improved upon, then we ought to speak up and ask. He says:

If someone sends you a contract, whether you are dealing with it yourself or getting someone else - an attorney or agent or someone - to vet your contracts, remember that absolutely everything is negotiable. In the early days I used to think that contracts were a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. And they aren't.
Do not be afraid to negotiate. And if you have people whose job it is to negotiate on your behalf, don't be afraid to use them. Nor to accept input. You are not looking a gift horse in the mouth, nor is the contract going to go away because you got someone to look it over.
This is speaking as someone who has been, from time to time, screwed over by overlooked clauses in otherwise pretty good contracts, and who has, from time to time, been astonished by what, in a contract, the other party let slide.

5. Trust Your Obsessions
Whatever drives you, keeps you awake at night, gnaws at your mind, makes you excited... these are the likely lines and stories you should pursue, says Neil Gaiman. Your interests and obsessions are what will ignite your art and stories, making them come alive. However, if you pursue art for money, or anything superficial, its light will be dim in comparison to things you are really excited about. He says:

People sometimes ask whether the research or the idea for the story comes first for me. and I tell them, normally the first thing that turns up is the obsession: for example, all of a sudden I notice that I'm reading nothing but English seventeen-century metaphysical verse. And I know it'll show ups somewhere-whether I'll name a character after one of those poets, or use that time period, or use the poetry, I have no idea. But I know one day it'll be there waiting for me.
Go where your obsessions take you. Write the things you must. Draw the things you must. Your obsessions may not always take you to commercial places, or apparently commercial places. But trust them.

6. Be you. Don't try to be someone else more commercial. Don't try to be that other guy.
A lot of people preach this line in different ways... and the world is saturated with this message. But for creatives, this advice is difficult to put into practice. Neil Gaiman is quite straightforward on this. He writes:

We all swipe when we start. We trace, we copy, we emulate. But the most important thing is to get to the place where you're telling your own stories, painting your own pictures, doing the stuff that no one else could have done but you.
...learn to draw like you.
...and, as a writer, or as a storyteller, try to tell the stories that only you can tell. Try to tell the stories that you cannot help telling, the stories you would be telling yourself if you had no audience to listen. The ones that reveal a little too much about you to the world.
It's the point I think of in writing as walking naked down the street: it has nothing to do with style, or with genre, it has to do with honesty. Honesty to yourself and to whatever you're doing.
...don't worry about developing a style. Style is what you can't help doing. If you write enough, draw enough, you'll have a style, whether you want it or not.

The View From The Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman contains more of these kinds of tips from someone who has walked the walk. Apart from writing tips, the book has transcripts of Neil's interviews with legends like Stephen king, Terry Pratchett and the likes. The book discusses their motivations, processes, and other experiences creatives would love to hear. Also, the book showcases Neil's thoughts on the nature of storytelling, public libraries, the future of comic books and other ideas.

If you are a creator of stories, The View From The Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman is a book you'll want to have by your bedside for few days or weeks, depending on how fast you are as a reader.

Many thanks to William Morrow for review copy.