I realized that sickness, like health, is part of human existence. It is an annealing experience that tests one’s tenacity and endurance, thereby making those virtues — as well as faith — stronger. Jaybird taught me what he knew: Job had a job to do
Always, braggarts are brought low, as I learned after boasting one fine spring day to my boyhood best friend and mentor Jaybird that I had survived winter without so much as a head cold. Bam! The next morning I awoke feeling terrible. Absolutely miserable, I developed another symptom: the woe-is-me syndrome. In my morning prayers, I ask God to protect me, especially from sickness, as I go about each day’s affairs. Now, wallowing in the depths of self-pity, I was disappointed in God because He didn’t answer my prayers.
Then I remembered one of the many life lessons Jaybird taught me. The wise old black man loved stories about Biblical characters, especially one of his favorites — Job. A master storyteller, he retold Biblical tales in his own inimitable way. I’ve never forgotten his story about Job.