{"id":27429,"date":"2026-08-06T09:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27429"},"modified":"2026-08-06T09:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T13:44:09","slug":"27429","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27429","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Blessed Be the Name (from Job)- Brent Bourgeois Lyrics\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LjJAy6Uj-Zc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Job And The Mystery Of Suffering<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>Unjust Suffering Continues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, August 6, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembrance Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Studying the book of Job with Christians in Central Africa, the theologian Jason Carter witnessed their deep solidarity with the text. In this excerpt, a theology student, part of the indigenous Fang community in Equatorial Guinea, writes a letter to Job, sharing his own experiences of suffering:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brother Job,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each time that I read the Scriptures and meditate on your afflictions and the complaints and accusations that your friends made against you, I ask myself if you have been reincarnated in me\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The truth is that the world is unjust.<\/strong> Just like you, I passed through three horrible years in which I lost two of my children. One died through an illness. After his death, people from the outside, including my own relatives, said that it was through the witchcraft of my wife\u2019s family. We almost separated. The other child (six years old) died in a fire in which there was not a chance to remove even one single belonging from the house\u2026. The people attributed the fire to my wife being irresponsible, others affirmed that it was a punishment of God against us because we had done something bad\u2014that God had paid us back with \u2026 just judgment\u2026. My own heart told me: \u201c<strong>Where is the God that you serve and how is it that [God] allowed you to pass through all of this?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My country is being devastated with all types of epidemics, sicknesses whose origins are still undiscovered, and horrible deaths. But every time that a person suffers from these things, the idea of others is always that the victims have to confess what they have done\u2026. I can almost say that the reasoning of your three friends is typical in my culture. All suffering here is linked to witchcraft or to a sin for which God is judging the person or all the family\u2026. I have listened to people lament and cry, saying: <strong>\u201cIf God exists, why has [God] permitted this?<\/strong> I don\u2019t deserve it, it\u2019s not fair!\u201d Others have even taken their lives to prevent further suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, this is what we live with every day. With the death of innocent children, \u2026 people who have studied but live poor without jobs, people that suffer sicknesses without knowing where it comes from. Nevertheless many criminals appear increasingly successful in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Job, I admire your courage and your mature attitude in responding to your wife and your integrity. Despite everything, you didn\u2019t blaspheme against God in all of that (2:9\u201310). I admire your humble response to God. <strong>It\u2019s true that the way in which many can demonstrate wisdom is to be silent when the cause is unknown<\/strong>\u2014and not open one\u2019s mouth to speak foolishness or falsely accuse the victims\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your story truly gives me hope. It gives me the feeling that <strong>while man lives on the earth, there is no guarantee that he will not suffer,<\/strong> however innocent or righteous he may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wish that everyone could learn from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sincerely,<br>Your brother Gregorio Nsomboro<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reference:<br><\/strong>Jason A. Carter,<em>\u00a0Inside the Whirlwind: The Book of Job Through African Eyes<\/em>\u00a0(Pickwick Publications, 2017), 166\u2013167.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>========================================================================= <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bradley Jersak<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8220;Living Presence&#8221;\u00a0<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ancient Wisdom for Modern Anxiety<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak\"><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>AUG 01, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his profoundly helpful forthcoming book,&nbsp;<em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ancient-Wisdom-Modern-Anxiety-Curiosity\/dp\/B0H533M8DN\">Ancient Wisdom for Modern Anxiety: Finding Relief through Curiosity and Wonder<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>(Whitaker House, 2027 &#8211; preorders available now), Paul E. Ralph (hereafter PER or Paul) uses the personified language of&nbsp;<em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;as a divine name or title. I like that for reasons I\u2019ll mention below.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul isn\u2019t the first to use the phrase\u2014a few earlier examples are notable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>J.A. Motyer (OT scholar and former Principal of Trinity College, Bristol) once wrote,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Over and over again in the Old Testament you come across the familiar phrase, <strong>\u201cThe word of the LORD came to &#8230;\u201d<\/strong> Now in Hebrew that is: \u2018The word of the LORD was to &#8230;\u2019 The verb used is the verb \u2018to be\u2019, not a verb of motion but a verb of realistic experience. <strong>\u2018The word of God became a living reality to &#8230;\u2019 The verb \u2018to be\u2019 in Hebrew means living reality,\u00a0<em>living presence<\/em><\/strong>, n<strong>ot just some bare abstract idea of existence as compared with non-existence.<\/strong> When God focusses attention upon this divine name, \u2018I am Yahweh\u2019, he is saying, <strong>\u2018I am the God of\u00a0<em>living presence<\/em>\u00a0with my people\u2026\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>J.A. Motyer, \u201cThe Normative Covenant,\u201d&nbsp;<em>Evangel&nbsp;<\/em>(April, 1983), 4.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>A decade later, Kabir Edmund Helminski wrote a book that draws on the wisdom of Sufism to address contemporary life. He titled it&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence:&nbsp;A Sufi Way to Mindfulness &amp; the Essential Self<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(Tarcher, 1992).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rounding out the Abrahamic religions, PER cites Nahum Ward-Lev\u2019s book on the Hebrew prophets as one of his sources to using the phrase as a proper name:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Seeking an alternative to \u201cthe Lord,\u201d I have chosen to translate God\u2019s Name as\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2026 The four letters of God\u2019s Name seem to refer to \u201cbeing\u201d itself, to \u201cBeing\u201d or \u201cBeing-ness\u201d that transcends time. My use of\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is also guided by God\u2019s interaction with Moses at the burning bush. When Moses asks for God\u2019s Name, God replies, \u201cI will be what I will be\u201d (Exodus 3:14). With this response, <strong>God both informs Moses that God\u2019s nature cannot be defined by any limiting quality,<\/strong> such as a name, and <strong>God assures Moses that God will be with him throughout time.<\/strong> Looking for a term that reflects this sense of \u201cBeing\u201d or \u201cBeing-ness\u201d accompanying human beings and creation throughout time, I chose the term\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cthe Living Presence.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nahum Ward-Lev.&nbsp;<em>The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets Then and Now<\/em>&nbsp;(Orbis Books, 2019).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these uses of \u201cliving presence\u201d are descriptions or translations, but in Paul\u2019s book and in our prayers together, he often uses that term as a proper name:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence, help me stay curious.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I find this especially helpful on several fronts. To begin with, it is inclusive. Paul\u2019s intentional use of the phrase welcomes all. It allows space for those who are suspicious of terms like \u201cGod\u201d\u2014a placeholder both too vague and too narrow to those who don\u2019t identify with a faith tradition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike \u201cGround of Being,\u201d \u201cUltimate Reality,\u201d or \u201cSacred Presence,\u201d&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is deeply biblical in resonance (\u201cthe living God,\u201d but so far, unburdened by centuries of doctrinal or philosophical baggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me personally, as I work in interfaith spaces, terms like \u201cuniverse\u201d or \u201cthe divine\u201d seem too impersonal. I have no objection to those who use them (as I do if it helps them), but\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<strong>includes the immanence (radical nearness) and intimacy that pairs well with our experiences of infinite Love.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that sense,&nbsp;<em><strong>Living Presence<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;is a descriptor vast enough for anyone whose concept of a \u201chigher power\u201d is also open to the Mystery of Something or Someone that is at least as relational, responsive, and caring as the mother archetype.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Further, even religious notions of \u201cGod\u201d can become a non-experience of \u201cdead absence.\u201d\u00a0<em><strong>\u201cLiving Presence\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<strong>acknowledges an\u00a0<em>immersion<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cin whom we live and move and have our being\u201d) and an\u00a0<em>indwelling<\/em>\u00a0(infinite Love encountered\u00a0<em>within us<\/em>). <\/strong>Yet even the agnostic is welcome to experience and experiment with the transforming aspects of a more impersonal\u00a0<em><strong>living presence<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>apart from the imaginary \u201cold man in the sky\u201d imagery of God. <strong>Paul\u2019s meditations on the\u00a0<em>Living Presence\u00a0<\/em>require no prior faith commitment\u2014all he asks for is openness to be met and held in our anxiety.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love Paul and I love this book. Well worth the pre-order while you remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Job And The Mystery Of Suffering Unjust Suffering Continues Thursday, August 6, 2026 Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembrance Day Studying the book of Job with Christians in Central Africa, the theologian Jason Carter witnessed their deep solidarity with the text. In this excerpt, a theology student, part of the indigenous Fang community in Equatorial Guinea, writes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27429"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27430,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27429\/revisions\/27430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}