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 Rami Shapiro

“Job understood the light and the dark of reality, the fact that one cannot exist without the other and that you and I cannot live without encountering both. Through all of this, Job maintains what his wife calls his ‘integrity’. In other words, as sad as he is over the death of his children and the loss of his wealth and vitality, he is not moved to blame God, fate, himself, or anyone else. Reality is reality, it does what it does; all we can do is move on.”

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"But often, in the world's most crowded streets, 

But often, in the din of strife, 

There rises an unspeakable desire 

After the knowledge of our buried life; 

A thirst to spend our fire and restless force 

In tracking out our true, original course; 

A longing to inquire 

Into the mystery of this heart which beats 

So wild, so deep in us—to know 

Whence our lives come and where they go."

From The Buried Life by Matthew Arnold