The Messenger

In 1999 I sat by Lake LaSalle when a man approached me. He was well mannered and I sensed urgency in his tone. He handed me a small publication entitled "Why is there so much evil in the world?" I looked at him for an explanation. "Think about it" he half-whispered, "think about it. There must be some very intelligent men." He left and I thought about it for a few years. One of the first aggregations I could bring forth from the logic of his question was the implication that he, the questioner, had in fact come to the conclusion that some very intelligent men were responsible for the evil in the world. In asking me to "think about it" he was suggesting to me that coming into this awareness is not an obvious path of logical inference. I have since come to consider that fellow a prime person in the hierarchy of intelligence figures in the free world. I understand, with a degree of certitude, the need to address evil in terms of the works of powerful minds.