Father 86 years
Why would a God with his attributes—all-loving, all-powerful, all-capable—permit suffering, like he did for Job, and of course, with extension, for all of us, in our private selves?
Son 45 years
Because he wants you to dance in chains. If he does not chain you, then you'll have a horrible dance. Unchained, unbounded biological behavior in Homo sapiens leads to no good for self.
We are not angels. We are animals wrapped in consciousness, impulse-driven, craving-bound, ego-wounded. The chain is not cruelty—it's containment. Without the binding, there is no dance worth doing.
The Weight of the Question
At 86, with eight children and countless untold stories, he doesn't ask his pastors or friends anymore. He asks his last-born son. Not for doctrine, but for truth. Not for comfort, but for witness. He sees in you someone who can look the world's cruelty in the eye and still say something real.
The Dance
Job danced in chains. He lost everything. He yelled at God. He didn't say "Thy will be done" like a sweet hymn. He raged, demanded, despaired. But he stayed in the conversation. That was the chain. That was the love. Without gravity, no flight. Without resistance, no art. Without sorrow, no soul.
A God who allows suffering but remains present in it is the only kind worth worshiping. If he only gave you joy, he'd be a drug dealer. But if he gives you chains that let you dance, he's a Father.