Jesus Christ, Statistician
During the second world war, Abraham Wald worked for the US Statistical Research Group. One of the things he did-which saved, no doubt, untold lives- was to armor planes in what would seem a very counterintuitive way. See, planes that survived combat were riddled with bullet holes, and the USGOV wanted to armor the planes where those bullet holes were. Wald said “Wait. We know that those planes can survive bullet holes where those are, we need to armor the planes where those bullet holes aren’t“. He theorized, and accurately so, that the airplanes that went down were shot in the vulnerable places, and nobody ever saw them because they went down. He used- not the data he had, but the missing data.
Yesterday I talked about the prodigal son, and how it is the wayward that need help- you don’t fix your radio when the windshield wipers don”t work, and you don’t put air in the round tires neglecting the flat. You improve things where improvement is required- and Jesus did the same. He sought out the broken- it would have been nice, and easy, and enjoyable, for him to come to the homes of only the just and decent and be comfortable- instead he went to those who needed the most help. Which had to look a lot like he was cavorting with hookers and thieves and government agents and downright criminals- but I repeat myself.
There was no need for the father of the prodigal son to armor his older son against the debauchery of the world- he proved that he already had strong defenses against that. The younger son was the one who needed the help- and that is where he applied it.
This sounds horribly unfair, on the face of it. It seems like giving your dog a treat for shitting in your loafers- but in reality, it is the humility and repentance that is rewarded.
In “Sons of Martha” Kipling talks about another seemingly unfair situation- Mary gets to lounge around and listen to Jesus talk while Martha does all the work. This upsets Martha just as the older brother of the Prodigal son is upset. Kipling has missed the point, though, because he forgets this other (very important) verse, told outside the tomb of Lazarus.
Martha therefore said to Jesus: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Martha gets it, like the elder brother of the prodigal son gets it. They have all the armor they need, in the right places.
Anytime you feel like someone else is getting a better deal than you, especially someone who really doesn’t deserve it, as far as you can see, rejoice that the Lord considers you not to need the extra help.
13 comments Og | Uncategorized
There is a similar story about measuring combat effectiveness (one of the things I do), in WW2. Merchant ships were not initially armed. But at some point the ships started sporting .50 cal MGs on the decks to shoot at enemy aircraft.
Measure #1: # of enemy aircraft shot down =0
Measure #2: Number of friendly ships with those MGs, sunk by strafing aircraft = a lot less.
Those officers looking at the first measure were convinced that the policy of arming merchant ships was a waste of money. But the second measure was what really mattered. Having the MG forced enemy aircraft to strafe from a farther distance, which was much less effective.
Second story: likely apocryphal. That the B-17 was capable of flying much higher if you removed all the machine guns and extra crew and crew support equipment. The higher flying B-17s would have been less vulnerable to enemy fighters and flak. But the Air Corps brass couldn’t stomach sending them up without some sort of self defense.
I tend to doubt that story since it was a frequent tactic to overload the planes with bombs and fuel. So, if weight were the issue, the planes could have still achieved that altitude with a lighter bomb load. Again, their measure was “tons of bombs leaving friendly airfields, (assumed delivered to enemy targets)” instead of a more useful measure of tons delivered on target, including the extra tons delivered by marginally higher surviving planes.
I’ve often thought that if Jesus only ate with the truly righteous He’d have starved to death long before he was crucified…..
Like most parables though, there are times when I can see myself as ANY of the characters. Sometimes I’m the prodigal son, sometimes the “good” son, sometimes even the father who welcomes home a prodigal over the protestations of the good.
And that, Mark, is the point of a parable.
We have started a ministry at our church. It is called the road to recovery and the minister running it is himself a recovered alcoholic. Most of the people I see there are broken and I feel it is the best ministry the church is currently doing.
Last week we had 25 people coming from half way houses and other recovery programs. ( We can get a count on them because we bus them in )
I dr8ive one of the buses to go get these people and deliver them.
If life is working for you, you should not complain God is not in your life.
A nice take on it, Paul. ” Hey, why dont i get to go through a cool 12 step program?” “Because you’re not an alcoholic”
Too bad there isn’t a twelve-step program for those of us who see 80% of the world’s population as a bleeping waste of oxygen…
Excellent point of view. I needed that today.
Grace is terribly, terribly unfair. Hitler could be in heaven if he accepted Christ before dying (and hadn’t committed suicide).
And believe me, it’s a very good thing that grace is so unfair.
Who knows, he might have accepted Christ as he was dying. The poison he chose was not instant. He did have some time before he expired.
Og, I wonder about the 12 step program as well.. What is cool about this one is not all the people who attend this service are alcoholics. This Minister allows for addictions of all kinds. They have about 6 identified, but they allow for unidentified as well. The program can work for any addiction.
Grace is a warrior laying it down for civilians. Some need more than others, but if we are all dead anyway, and Life is the mercy of the Lord, then deservin aint got nothing to do with it.
I do not understand how any that were dead, yet still live by grace, would second guess what mystery the angels look at and stay out of. That is not theology, that is being dead, and raised, literally, by the Son who chooses to get this something not to be grasped. You see, I had it coming, and was raised back up, that is the truth, and my testimony, and all I can do about it is say these things.
I do not understand it, stay out of it, just praise the Living God. Maybe angels are remembering.
Thanks for posting this.
Helps me deal with my younger brother :)
And me with my younger sister. Sigh.
Thank you for putting the thought and sweat equity behind this post. Sunday’s Gospel hit at a confluence, a harmonic convergence, of heaven and earth. It gives the impression of God perhaps coming at this from a different angle.
My adult work life has seen nothing but consummate screw ups not only not getting fired but rising high while the able get nitpicked to death or pushed out, women have kids like crazy by guys they themselves admit are scumbag dopers and felons, but clean livers get no play, I can be there for relatives and friends, but when I ask for assistance (mostly just to be a second set of hands for a home job) no one is there, or I’m a jerk to ask.
Then I sit in church, hear this, and think, “Ok, I’m supposed to be a doormat, love my enemies, and forgive 7×70 times (like you also reiterate at the end of the Our Father) the very guys you kill the fattened calf to celebrate, while I should overlook the speck in the next guy’s eye like you will while you’ll call me out on the plank in mine. And you say a lot of people who call upon Your name will get told ‘I don’t know you – out of my sight.’ The more I go Tucker Max on people the more they like it (I told the boss to pi** off and he wanted to promote me, so I told him to pi** off again, and I got a 50 cent raise), and so maybe you’ll appreciate me more if I be Tucker Max for you, too. Now off to the booze and broads.”
http://www.tuckermax.com/
But we’re all a work in progress. Your words come with a seminarian’s background, plus I know you sweat this God subject more than I, so it does have its gravitas. I’m afraid I’m destined to wrestle with the angel like Jacob did until daybreak for my blessing, hanging on with a damaged hip until he finally asks, “What will get you off of me, finally?” Og, thanks.