The Pride Of Those Who Think They Can Fix Anything (December 3, 2006)

In September of 1939, Senator William Borah reacted to the news that Hitler had invaded Poland by saying, "Lord, if I could only have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided."

Do you know any Borahs? They are the ones who could have fixed the problem, any problem, if only the bumbling fools who always make a mess of things had just cleared out and let them handle it. When tragedy strikes, they immediately help by saying, "Here's what I would have done." They are confident of their ability to persuade bad people to see reason. A few words from their golden lips would have set
everything right - all that was needed was the opportunity that circumstances or incompetent powers denied them.

Senator Borahs materialize like vultures on carrion every time there is a disaster. The 9-11 tragedy produced thousands of them; locally, several tend to appear at the site of every failed marriage, every divided church, every hospital sickbed. "I could have solved this. It never would have happened to me. They should have done such and such. Too bad I wasn't here."

The Bible's prototypical Borahs are the friends of Job. One of them, Eliphaz, lectured his stricken friend, "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him." (Job 5:8). Eliphaz thought he would be vindicated in a trial before the Lord - unlike Job, who obviously had failed terribly (how could he not have failed, given how badly things turned out?). It does the heart good to see
Eliphaz get his comeuppance at the end of the book.

Desperate people sometimes long for a Borah who actually has the power he claims. They say, "I know I can't handle this, but YOU can. Please talk to Hitler. You can stop him." But if Hitler hasn't yet listened to anyone reasonable, he certainly won't listen to Borah. When the rich man in hell begged for Lazarus' ghost to be sent to save his brothers, he was told, "If they do not listen to Moses and the
Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." (Luke 16:31). Lazarus will not succeed where Moses has failed. Nor will Jesus.

Some evil is eternally recalcitrant. It is not coldly pessimistic to note that - it is just true. Maturity demands acknowledgment of the fact that, where we cannot win evil over, we must simply oppose it. It will certainly end in tragedy, but - second-guessing Borahs notwithstanding - it can end no other way.