Job 18:17

All thought of them is lost from the earth,

   Their name is not known in the land.

One of the goals of many wayward souls is to be remembered. They want to go down in history, have cities named after them, or have buildings with their names on them, or even huge monuments. This follows from people wanting to be famous while alive. I do not want to be famous, I do not expect I will care if anyone remembers me after I am dead, and in fact I do not want to have anyone recognize me when I am doing wrong. And even when I get something right, I want God to get the glory.

‘All thought’ was also ‘their memory’, ‘his remembrance’, or ‘all mention’. Made me think it was their own memory like dementia or Alzheimer’s. ‘Is lost’ was also ‘perishes’ or ‘vanishes’.

‘In the land’ was also ‘in the street’, ‘among the renowned’, ‘abroad’, or ‘in the country side’. That makes me think of maybe this is not the future for them, but the present: being uncared for and not known while alive.

Since I keep going back to my hometown, I keep remembering what a pain it was being known as the smart kid. There was a huge pressure not to screw up. I couldn’t make a bad grade, I couldn’t get in trouble for my behavior, and I sure couldn’t actually get away with doing anything wrong. The trip before last my friend, that I told about getting caught stealing gum when I was really little, had to run how and tell his mom about it; at the age of 57.

There is huge pressure to not get anything wrong now, but its only source is me. My family knows well how not perfect I am, and I counsel my friends not to expect much. I do strive to do well, but only because I want to glorify God. I am too old to be driven by the praise of others no matter how much I crave it or how much I enjoy it when it comes.

I’ve been multitasking and lost my train of thought. Overall, it would be nice to think that evil people would be punished here on earth and that being ignored, unknown, or not remembered would seem to be great outcomes. But our goal is not to punish evil, but to show it good, and hope it repents. Of course, this conflicts with our sin nature, so we have to look for God to provide the strength needed for such an outlook on evil.

Written 10/11/25, Posted 10/30/25, Job 427/~1070