Job in the Bible and the Grieving

¶ … Job in the Bible and the Grieving Process

Review story Job Bible, focusing suffering grief. Examine story correlates grieving process defined Kubler-Ross. 3) In a paper 750-1000 words include: a) Compare contrast grieving process defined Kubler-Ross story Job religion.

The understanding of the process of grief helps many to understand how to deal with their emotions and also how to react physically to the loss. Kubler-Ross described a five stage process of grief. The stages can occur in any sequence, and they can recur during the experience. Also, one stage can last longer than the others Flatt, 1988.

The story of Job in the Bible relates closely to the five stages of grief, and it is a quintessential example of the application of the five stages of grief.

The five stages of grief

The first stage is that of denial. This is where the person denies that the loss has occurred and ignores the signs of the loss. The second stage is bargaining. This is where the person bargains or strikes a deal with God or other people. The third stage is anger where the person becomes angry with God and others for the loss. The fourth stage is despair where the person becomes overwhelmed with the pain and anguish of the loss and they begin to have uncontrollable spells of weeping, silence and melancholy. The last stage is that of acceptance where the person reaches a level of awareness and understands the nature of their loss. They begin to think rationally about the loss and begin to exhibit behavior which shows they accept the loss. Kubler-Ross posits that a person needs to pass through each of these phases of grief otherwise they may not be able to fully come to terms with the loss Levin, 1998()

The story of Job

The story of Job in the Bible does exemplify the five stages of grief that were described by Kubler-Ross. In the first chapter of the book, Job is seen to be in denial about the gravity of his situation, "the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised," Job 1:21 and Job 2:10 "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In the seventh chapter, his anger about God is seen.

"Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine." Job 7:11-15

Job begins to bargain with God in the ninth chapter "if only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more," Job 9:33-34. Depression becomes evident in the 10th chapter, "why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me," Job 10:18. In the 13th and 42nd chapter, Job finally accepts his situation, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face," Job 13:15 and "You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know," Job 42:3.

Job does go back and forth between the five stages when dealing with his suffering. At some point, he wishes he was never born which is in line with the anger stage of grief and when he wishes for an arbitration session with God, he is in the bargaining stage Lyon, 2000()

Grief in the Hindu religion

In the Hindu religion, their grief process is designed around interacting with the source of grief itself. This can be seen during the preparations for a funeral. When a person passes on, the person's family bathes with the body, massage it with oils and dress up the deceased in new clothes. They then make sure that the body is cremated before the appearance of the next sunrise. They do this to ensure that the soul of the deceased person transitions to the next world. Therefore, their way of dealing with grief is centered on their religious belief that waiting too long will prevent the deceased from passing on from this world to the next one. They thus speed up the grief process in their own way Pastan, 1996()