6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. I Corinthians 2:6-7
No plan survives first contact with
the enemy. This is an old and quite true Army adage. Despite all our planning
and intel-gathering once combat starts, the enemy gets a vote. Things rarely go
the way we plan; consequently, in all operations we issue FRAGOs to account for
changes in the situation. FRAGO stands for Fragmentary Order. They are shorter
and less involved than the original Operations Order, or OPORD. I spent much of
my time in Iraq writing FRAGOs. FRAGOs enable a unit to continue to operate in
the highly fluid cauldron we call modern armed conflict. One night in Baghdad, the
Chief of Staff of 1AD (First Armored Division) tasked me with writing a FRAGO,
getting his approval on it, and issuing to the subordinate unit before I went
down for the evening. He went to his room and lay down to catch a few minutes
of sleep while I wrote the FRAGO. Early in the morning, sometime around two or
three, I finished it. I went and woke him up, handed the FRAGO to him, answered
a few questions, obtained his signature, and then issued the FRAGO. Then I lay
down in my hooch for a few minutes of sleep. When I returned to the Command
Post a couple of hours later, he confronted me, enraged. “Major,” he screamed, “You
did not write and issue the FRAGO like I told you to!”
“Yes Sir, I did,” I replied.
“No, you did not,” he bellowed, “I
do not remember you waking me!”
“Yes Sir, I did. Here’s the FRAGO
with your signature.”
Stunned he snatched the FRAGO
from my hand, glaring at the offending signature. There was nothing he could
say. Not only had he signed the FRAGO, I had also sent it as he instructed. Exhausted
and bewildered by the fog of war, he had not remembered our conversation in the
middle of the night.
“Well, I still think it’s not a
good FRAGO,” he mumbled as he walked away. War is confusing on good days.
Things change moment by moment necessitating an agile response and numerous
FRAGOs. Eventually the stack of FRAGOs we issued during that first year in
Baghdad would fill a bookshelf full of three-ring binders. Advent is no FRAGO.
Jesus coming to earth was not “Plan
B.” Before creation. Before He spoke light into existence. Before the mountains
rose and the oceans rolled. Before the first plants sprang forth and the first
creatures printed the dirt. Before He squatted down and gathered dust, blowing life
into lifeless dirt. God planned to come to earth as one of His creatures.
Advent is “Plan A,” the original Operations Order. God did not issue a FRAGO to
adjust to changed circumstances. As scripture says, “4
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman,
born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5
Advent marks the invasion of God into human
existence. Jesus came when the time was right and things unfolded as planned,
no FRAGOs needed. The time was full, creation was pregnant with need, so He
came and was born into our reality. Despite the fluid and often chaotic nature
of combat, Jesus did not need to make adjustments. The time was right.
No comments:
Post a Comment