SAVING THE WORLD

I was watching a documentary on the Cuba Missile Crisis on the Smithsonian Channel yesterday, and though I thought I knew everything there was to know about the subject, I learned something new.

As fifty or sixty Soviet ships approached two hundred fifty American ships which surrounded and blockaded the island of Cuba, one of the opposing submarine captains made the decision to use a nuclear torpedo against our cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. (At the time our military was not even aware of the existence of such a torpedo; something had it been used  would have shifted the local balance of power considerably).

Speaking of a balance of power, the Soviet military required the three senior officers on all their naval vessels to concur before a nuclear weapon could be used against other ships, (or for that matter a land target).

After the captain of the submarine announced that he had decided to rain nuclear devastation upon the American fleet, and solicited the votes of his immediate subordinates, his second in command immediately concurred. However, (and it is a ‘humongous’ however) the third officer voiced a resounding ‘nyet’ to the plan of attack.

Two against one. In this case the ‘one’ won. Thankfully, this awful scenario became the nuclear attack that never was. Of course, had the nuclear torpedo been launched, and had multiplied hundreds of our naval ships and their crews been decimated that day, there would have been no stopping President Kennedy from raining thousands of nuclear tipped American missiles on the Soviet Union and its citizens, which, no doubt, would have resulted in a symmetrical nuclear response against our country and our citizens by Premier Khrushchev. 

Pt. 2

The ships and crews of the two opposing forces in the Caribbean on that momentous day, but more crucially the 193 million citizens of the United States and the 122 million citizens of the Soviet Union were almost miraculously spared from nuclear devastation… by one man, which, in essence, made him something of a Christ figure in the lives of the two nations, (and the other nations of the world which would have reaped multiplied tons of radioactive fallout, and which would have jeopardized the lives of countless other people).

Allow me to recount a different story for you now. (However, I think you’ll find that we will soon arrive at a unique convergence of the previous tale with the one I am about to share with you).

As my daughter, Mary neared the age of twenty, she began displaying significant symptoms of psychosis. As a result, I transported her to the county crisis unit where she was evaluated, and was ultimately involuntarily committed to a state mental facility. (I will always be thankful, for though she has experienced a few relapses over the years, this was her first real opportunity to heal, stabilize and exhibit change). Every second or third weekend, my wife and I drove south to visit Mary in the small city of Arcadia. It was a long trip, and the scenery consisted of small towns and pasture land.

We had just driven up to her particular domicile, and, as usual, she was there to greet us. However, this time there was someone else with her whom I did not know. He was a “big old boy.” For our purposes here, I’ll call him “Bob,” (as in “What About Bob”)? The young man “hovered” at about six foot three inches, and must have weighed three hundred pounds. I had no idea how to relate to him, but decided I’d just have to do my best.

Just when I decided I didn’t much like Mary wasting my time with this guy, the incredible happened. Momentary Ministry.

The young fella looked me directly in the eyes, and uttered a few words:

“No one ever visits me here. Not my parents. Not my friends. WILL YOU HUG ME?”

Well! You guessed it. Right there before God and everybody, I wrapped Bob in my arms, and held him for several moments. His arms also embraced me, and I felt his head as it drooped onto my right shoulder. And if for only one moment, he knew someone cared. (Tears come to my eyes even now).

You never forget moments like that.

My sensitivity to The Vulnerable among us has increased.

Afterward

In Judaism there is an old maxim which assures us that,

“He who saves a single life saves the world entire.”

We hear that maxim quoted in the movie, “Schindler’s List.” And, of course, anytime I have ever heard the phrase since then I have thought of the movie. After having seen the documentary about the Cuban Missile Crisis, I will also think of that courageous Soviet officer who stood in the gap for the entire world when he vetoed the use of that nuclear torpedo against our American ships and crews. Of course, Oskar Schindler and that Soviet officer saved many more than one life.

As a believer, however, I think we have been called by God to “save one life at a time.” For this is the manner in which our Lord so often works. I was given the opportunity on that day which transpired three decades ago to, in essence, save one life, or at the very least make life more tolerable for a young man by the name of Bob.

“He who saves a single life saves the world entire.”

by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending