Beware of pious-sounding nonsense

Patrick: Reading about the woman in this article (click on link below) reminds me a little of the biblical character Job. I pray that she'll be able to hang on to her belief in God's love, and that he will protect her from too many encounters with judgmental friends.

When Life and Work Fall Apart
She is a professional. Capable. Commanding. Her presence fills conference rooms, but her private life is otherwise.

Patrick (continued): I've been teaching Job and I'm amazed how quick his friends were to assume that his great suffering must have originated in some great sin. At the end of the book God shows up and says that he's angry with Job's friends because of their stupid, self-righteous comments. Job is finally vindicated, but he had to endure a lot of ridiculous religious idiocy from his friends before God showed up.

Reading the comments of Job's friends (all written in Hebrew poetry, like some kind of biblical opera) might leave a lot of people with the impression that they were wise and godly. The medium is the message! They spoke of faith and righteousness and God's justice, etc., etc., but when they said something true it was usually misapplied to Job's case; and often they said stuff that wasn't true. But it was said so very piously. Beware of pious-sounding nonsense.