The Strategy of ...

                 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. (I Samuel 17:8-11)

We all know this story, but it came to mind with regard to the verse I was going to consider this morning and it muscled the other verse out. One of the thoughts that immediately comes to mind is a poem:

 

My Five Smooth Stones

 

My five smooth stones, they missed their mark today.

The giant laughed and went his scornful way.

and I, left dazed and bloody on the field,

can only say that I refused to yield,

for all the good that did, I slowed him not

No vict’ry song, it’s better off forgot

 

Your five smooth stones, they missed their mark today

But mine flew straight, they did not go astray.

Your ego’s wound will let your soul be healed,

and from the worst my mercy did you shield.

The battle won was not the one you thought

But standing there you did not do for nought. (Allyn Ransom)

 

            The second thing is probably the more important thought. Let’s talk about strategy. Let’s suppose that your army is a good army, but that you have a few special forces guys or – for lack of a better description – giants. If your whole army goes up against the enemy, you’re going to lose soldiers. You might even lose the battle. But if you can set your most intimidating warrior against them in single combat, you won’t risk as much because he might be all you have, but he’s better than anything you think they have. From there, it’s a propaganda war. As long as the other guy is convinced that your giant is undefeatable, you win because their fear will only grow.

            The introduction of the Ferengi to Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to mind. It’s a video-conference lacking perspective, so the Ferengi looks huge and menacing. The reality is that he’s just standing too close to the camera.  Another TV show comes to mind: Buffy. In one episode, the kids spend the whole episode becoming more and more afraid of a demon who is announcing his impending arrival. Giles spends the whole episode trying to translate the text under a picture of the beast. As they reach the moment of doom, Giles succeeds. It says something to the effect of “Actual size.” The demon is less than 6 inches tall. When he arrives, Buffy stomps on him like a bug.

The key for the enemy is to distort perception. If none of the Israelites was courageous or strong enough to stand up to the Philistine champion, the Israelites were then too humiliated to go out against the whole army. That brings to mind the only episode of Big Bang Theory that I saw more than a few minutes of. In it, the guys get involved in a paint ball battle, and all of them are afraid to leave cover to take on their rivals. At some point, Sheldon leaps from his cover and charges – and is immediately taken out by paint from every gun the rivals have. His “sacrifice” leads the others to act. I don’t recall if they won or not. The point is that as soon as someone is willing to sacrifice himself, the courage and faith of the others is released. If someone steps forward in faith to take on the challenge – whether he wins or loses, he encourages others.

And it just may be that the “giant” has a fragile skull or a glass jaw.