I'm No Job (But A Good Job Will Do)

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.” - Duke Ellington

I'm no Job of Old Testament fame but when it rains it pours. And when it pours, the quote above from Duke Ellington is good advice. It's more constructive to write some blues and I can do so on my blog.

One bit of bad news this past month to sing the blues about, among many, was carcinoma of the bladder, something I didn't expect to hear at my age with my clean lifestyle. But, as Job would say if he spoke French instead of presumably Hebrew, “c’est la vie.” There are certain bumps and threats that are just part of life.

On second thought, maybe Job wouldn't say that. Each language brings its own lenses on the world that are embedded in its words. His buddies with the funny names tended to think in more black and white terms of divine causality. e.g. “For though God wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. (Job 5.18)” Hebrew speakers probably didn't think in terms of "such is life" or "stuff just happens".

And they certainly didn't know how to sing the blues when bad stuff did happen. They'd have to learn that from the Duke in America. The thing to learn from the story of Job is not the blues but rather patience and faith amidst adversity, even when you don't understand "why me".

I went to the hospital before Christmas to undergo cystoscopy, where a fairly large tumor in my bladder was scraped out. This kind of tumor tends to be a somewhat benign form of malignant cancer – if that makes sense. The doctor explained that there was no such thing as a benign tumor of the bladder. It’s all bad. It just depends on how bad. I was fortunate in that the carcinoma cells were shallow and growing slowly. The unwelcome cells, as unwelcome as a flasher at a BYU football game, were escorted out of my body completely and without complications. This bump in my life was now gone.

Some men tend to get quiet and introspective when serious things happen, while others are quiet even when unserious things happen. I’m somewhat quiet when unserious and really, really quiet when things get serious. Hence, my muteness on my blog.

I managed to get out to smell the roses during the holidays though. I enjoyed seeing and photographing the Christmas lights one cool crisp evening at Temple Square. That's when I took the photo above.

The construction there slowed down the flood of humanity, much like road construction in the middle lane of I-15 slows down both North and Southbound traffic during rush hour. I don’t know where the sampling of dense humanity around Temple Square comes from, maybe from the Diaspora of Utahans around the country returning to family. At any rate, it was busier than the exit of a NY skyscraper at lunchtime.

Still, I can’t think of any place more christmasy than Temple Square during Christmas week with the lights on. It was good to be alive and to have good health.