Job 2:11-13 describes Job’s friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—coming to sit with him in his suffering. They weep with him; Job’s tears are their tears. They tear their robes in solidarity with Job’s grief. They choose to sit in silence with their friend for seven days, recognizing the depth of his grief. While words sometimes bring comfort, simply coming alongside another in the rawness of their sorrow and loss is the best thing you can do. We receive from this ancient story not only how to love in the midst of great pain, but how God is present with us in our times of despair. As the saying goes, sometimes silence is golden.
