Floccinaucinihilipilification

An Ancient Chimney Filled with Dust and Ashes

Wilderness Conservancy

Rye, New York

October 2010

Job 7:16
"I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning."

Yesterday one of my sophomores showed me the longest word in the English language I have ever seen. Since I won't pretend I can pronounce it, I will hyperlink to a page where an expert can. The definition of the rarely used noun is: "the estimation of something as valueless". The word is:  floccinaucinihilipilification.  

Job clearly had a problem with his sense of self worth, especially as he had lost all he possessed and loved in life.

His naked body and anguished spirit lay in dust and ashes crying in despair, begging to know what sin he had committed against the Almighty to receive such treatment from Him.


People make the mistake of assuming God is behind their misfortunes. They believe Divine retribution is the cause for the calamities they face in life.

Yet Matthew 5:45 states the sun rises on the evil and the good alike. In the Book of Job, Satan was the one who took everything away from him, and it was God who restored twice as much to him as he had lost.

However, there is another angle to the story of Job no one has ever discussed with me. Job's friends often get criticized in the story, yet they came to him in his time of need.

I wonder what kind of friendship they shared with Job? I wonder what influence Job had made on them that they would drop their tasks at home, travel to him, and sit in the midst of dust and ashes to analyze the calamities he had just faced.

Job, in the midst of his pity party, had three friends beside him. I wonder how many other friends would have liked to have sat beside him but couldn't get away because they had to tend to their flocks of sheep or their mothers-in-law were visiting for the week or their kids were home with their wives and children.

What influences in the lives of others had Job made that caused people to care about his losses? It's clear he was a righteous man, of whom God was proud, so he must have been a good neighbor, a comfort to those who were sick, poor, and in need.

John Donne wrote in the 16th Century, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." 

This was Job. His life touched all who knew him, yet in the Book of Job, he focused only on himself and his great tragedies. He looked inwardly at his misery and didn't focus outwardly at what he had accomplished for others with God's help.

This is so typical. It's easy to slip into deep, dark depression when calamity after calamity befalls us. And, unfortunately, God is the easy, but misguided target for our wrath, sorrow and confusion.

Instead of slipping into floccinaucinihilipilification, we should focus on Donne's island and realize we never know where the ripples of our lives extend.

All of us have worth, value, and a purpose on Earth.

The Book of Job focused on his tragedy and restoration, but I would also like to know more about his relationships with his friends and neighbors.
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Lord, help me to stay focused on helping others and to leave my own problems in your hands.