In the book "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, we are treated to analysis of the unlikely. In a chapter on cheating, for example, the authors draw lessons from two sources, sumo wrestlers and teachers. Both are professions of honor, and both, if conditions are right, can be lured into cheating. The incentives have to be there. For example, a teacher (a profession I know very well) can be lured into cheating by providing a system to check and change answers on important tests, like tests that determine the rating in an accountability system. It has to be a perfect storm though, one that offers an incentive (or disincentive) such as a monetary award for great scores or loss of a job if the scores over time are poor. Sumo wrestling is cheating your way into a different weight class for the opportunity to wrestle in a category where the wrestler has an advantage. To win is great honor in Japan, so the incentive is there for the wrestler to work to fudge the numbers.
People do, however, cheat if the opportunity is there and the perceived or actual incentive is right. My accountant, who reads this, has a saying when it comes to deductions on taxes, "The difference between a pig and a hog is this: You feed a pig. You slaughter a hog. So, do you want to be the pig or the hog?" (when it comes to declaring deductions on taxes). Lesson: Don't be a hog. It's a good lesson for all of us in tax season.
Runners in long races wear computer chips these days to track time. Races provide them for the serious runner who is there to run a specific time or better in order to qualify for the great races (like New York or Boston Marathons). Yet, the check points are known in these races, placed at specific points along the course, with one exception. It seems as though runners will be tempted to shave off portions of the course in order to improve their time, usually because they are seeking to qualify for these other races. So, the course director has a couple of surprise check points that are not known before the race. To fail to cross them means you probably were guilty of attempting to shave off a portion of the run. In essence, you get caught.
This takes me to the 2017 Astros. What on earth was the incentive to do what they did? This was a team that had a history of working hard, learning the system and playing hard using metrics in ways no one else had. They were the darlings of sports writers, making the cover of Sports' Illustrated four times in a short period. They were hailed as the team doing things right. Then it all came crashing down on them (and us, their fans). Not that cheating doesn't exist in baseball. Baseball will even say it is okay within reason. The runner on second taking signs and trying to get the pitch to the batter. Players in the dug out watching for signals from other dugouts or base coaches. The 2019 Washington Nationals, playing the Astros, were well aware of their system and changed their method of signs completely to throw them off because baseball players are drawn to take the edge regardless of what it takes sometimes.
What was the incentive? You can say a World Championship title, but it's not that simple. Somewhere in the Astros organization, the drive to win had to be incentivized in 2017 to the point of taking a short cut and making the outcome worth it. I'm still, as a recovering fan, waiting to learn of that part of the take. It had to be pressure, money, reputation, pride, arrogance and several other things on the line to make it worth it to knowingly do what they did. Worth it in their minds that is.
Fortunately, because of our cheating ways, God had and has a plan. We see it unfolding in Luke chapter 1 during Advent, as the flurry of activity is swift. Creation has come to the point of two births: John's and Jesus. One will prepare the way for a wayward people and the other will be the salvation. God took no short cuts. He didn't shred up all He created and start over. He didn't destroy what we had ruined. In the end, God's plan unfolds and is here before us as we wait for Christ's second coming. In the end, God triumphs over our cheating ways and other short cuts in life we take.
We lift a prayer of thanksgiving for God's plan as it unfolds during Advent, that He chose to redeem us from ourselves.
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