10The grey-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father.
“Wisdom resides in the collective knowledge of humans.” Or at least that is Eliphaz’s argument. He now feels attacked in his own worldview and lashes out at Job. But, hasn’t Job suffered enough! And now his friends, those who came to bring him comfort, are the very ones inflicting pain on him. This can happen when we become comforters to those stricken with grief. We can be compassionate for a period of time, but then we want the grieving friend to move on with their lives, to get past their grief, we start saying stupid things. The griever still feels unheard in their pain. They still live day by day with the loss. Our lives have moved on; theirs has not. But there is such a thing as “collective stupidity.” I am convinced of it! As humans we keep thinking we can solve the problems in the world without the LORD! We think we can negotiate peace, peace that will last. We think we understand global climate, and when evidence contrary to our theory arises, we know better than to listen to the evidence. We think education is the key to solving the problems of the world, but education does not change the human heart, the root of the world’s problems. All the collective wisdom of human beings has gotten us in the mess we are in collectively. Especially for those in grief, an outside perspective is needed. Human wisdom only takes us so far, and grief is a greater distance than human wisdom can travel. Human wisdom will always fall short of meeting the needs of a grieving heart.
The Arnold Journey 