The Silence of Friends

The Silence of Friends
Job 2: 9-13

The day my first wife died, we were planning to go to the beach, so I went on my own the next day. This may sound weird, but it seemed to make sense at the time, and when I got home I was glad I had gone, because there were twelve messages on the phone from people who had come to bring me food or just to drop by or who wanted to express condolences, and I didn’t want to see anyone. People use up energy, and I didn’t have any energy. Other people sent messages on cards and e-mails, too, and at one level I appreciated their doing so, though the messages didn’t help me (except the ones that reminisced about Ann, which made me cry but did mean something)...