Chaplain's Corner: The importance of the 'Big Picture' Published June 6, 2008 By Chaplain (Capt.) Ken Thornton Tinker Chapel TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- On 27 May 1942, the Yorktown returned to Pearl Harbor from the Battle of the Coral Sea. The battle might have appeared as a draw to a neutral observer. While the Japanese fleet had won a tactical victory, inflicting comparatively heavier losses on the Allied force, it was a huge moral victory for Allied Forces. For the first time, the Allies had stopped the Imperial Japanese Navy from advancing. The third USS Yorktown (CV-5) was the lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers of World War II. The Yorktown had sustained significant damage in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Initial assessments by engineers were that it would take three months to repair. But the problem was we didn't have three months. Signals intelligence revealed that Yorktown was needed in three days. The cryptographic unit at Pearl Harbor had gained enough information from decoded Japanese naval messages to estimate that the Japanese were on the threshold of a major operation aimed at two islets in a low coral atoll known as Midway. When the dockyard workers learned of the immediate needs, they organized into work crews and literally worked around the clock for 72 hours. And on 30 May 1942, Yorktown steamed out with the rest of the American task force toward Midway - ready for battle. Pride is a word that is used frequently in our culture today. We seem to gravitate toward the proud and we treat pride as if it were the best of all virtues. Even as we study history we tend to gravitate to those who seemed to have a great deal of pride. But every major faith group uplifts not the proud but the humble. Humility is the quality of being courteously respectful of others. It is the opposite of aggressiveness, arrogance, boastfulness, and vanity. Rather than, "Me first," humility allows us to say, "No, you first, my friend." Humility is the quality that lets us go more than halfway to meet the needs and demands of others. You've no doubt heard the saying, "Pride goes before a fall". Maybe you've seen this in someone else. Or maybe even yourself. The wise Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:8, "Too much pride can put you to shame. It's wiser to be humble." (Contemporary English Version) It is good to take pride in what we do. This can help us to do our job well. But too much pride can keep the attention on us. It leads to brilliance blinding one's vision. A proud person can end up thinking it's all about him or her. The wrong kind of pride can lead to marriage and other relational problems. It can prevent one from seeing the "big picture", seeing that it's really about getting the job done for the good of all. And humility allows us to work for the good of all. The Battle of Midway was the real turning point in the war in the Pacific. We would not have won Midway without Yorktown. And we wouldn't have had Yorktown without dockyard workers who did not try to jump into the limelight, but instead quietly got the job done. In your organization - who would you say are the humble? Who are your "dockyard workers"? Do you recognize them for the difference that they are making? Are you taking care of them professionally just as others have taken care of you? And personally - how do you think others evaluate you? Would they say you are prideful - it's all about you, or humble - doing what's beneficial for all? That's really the big picture. God bless. I hope you have a great week.