Pinky and the Brain

Complementing the talents and weakness of others

04/03/2019

John 5:17-30 Jesus answered the Jews: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work." For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God. Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

Yesterday, someone made the strangest comparison I’ve ever heard in my life. Fr. Stephen and I were standing side by side in the mailroom in the church offices speaking softly. Mariella the secretary saw us and laughingly said: “You guys look like Pinky and the Brain!” Have you ever heard of that cartoon? I had no idea what she meant, but of course, Fr. Stephen knew right away. He said slyly: “Yes, we’re discussing world domination.” Fr. Stephen went on to explain that Stephen Spielberg had produced a cartoon about two mice who are trapped in a laboratory, and genetically altered. Pinky is tall and skinny, with a happy personality and very kind, but he’s also not very bright. Apparently, Mariella thought I looked like Pinky. The Brain, on the other hand, is short and has an abnormally large head. He’s extremely intelligent and spends all day developing complex plans for world domination, which the two mice attempt to execute every night. He is emotionally cold and speaks in a monotone voice, a lot like Fr. Stephen!

But the interesting thing is that Pinky also serves as the Brain’s moral compass in many cases, and is the Brain’s only real friend. In some episodes Pinky actually saves the Brain, like when they were lost in the jungle and the Brain needed Pinky’s physical strength and agility. Pinky also points out the flaws in the Brain’s plans to take over the world. In other words, even though the Brain seems to be the genius and Pinky the dim-witted one, they both learn from each other and complement each other, making up for the other person’s weaknesses. In short, Pinky and the Brain need each other.

Now, I’m about to make an even stranger (and probably sacrilegious) comparison than Mariella did. I think God the Father and God the Son are a little like the Brain and Pinky. As ridiculous as that sounds, John’s gospel almost suggests some similarities between the two sets. Listen to this line from John, where Jesus says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will also do.” Let me dare to point out three parallels. First, God the Father is like the Brain because it is his plans and his will that God the Son (Jesus) faithfully fulfills, like Pinky carried out the Brain’s plans. Jesus says in John 6:38, “I have not come to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” Secondly, God the Father needs God the Son in a complementary way, a little like the Brain needed Pinky to complement his strengths and weaknesses, to complete him. God the Son is as much an essential part of the Holy Trinity as God the Father is: they both need each other, just like they both need the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, just like Pinky and the Brain contemplate and carry out world domination, so, too, do God the Father and God the Son. They don’t take over the world with military might or political power, but rather by establishing the Catholic Church, which exercises a world-wide dominion of love and mercy, justice and peace.  The Father sent the Son for world domination.

Boys and girls, may I offer you a couple of practical points these strange comparisons can teach us? First of all, don’t be turned off or reject out of hand those people who are different from you. I know it’s cool to share things in common with your friends. You dress alike (you have to at Trinity), you enjoy the same subjects in school, you play the same sports, you listen to the same music. And that’s all good. But the really enriching relationships, friendships and even marriages, are made up of people who think very differently but complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet was famously called a “team of rivals” because they did not all agree with each other, or even with the president. But Lincoln saw that as a great asset, not a liability. You can only learn from someone who doesn’t think exactly like you. Don’t be afraid of them.

The second take-away is to realize no one person is given all the gifts. Everyone has weaknesses, no matter how perfect they may look on the outside. But that also means the converse: everyone has some gifts, talents, abilities and strengths, no matter how weak or insignificant they may seem at first sight. Do your teachers ever make your work in a small group to do projects or presentations, for homework or at P.E.? It can be terribly frustrating and make you wish you were working alone. You feel like the Brain surrounded by a bunch of Pinkys! But you can also be profusely productive if you can see how each person brings some special talent to the table, and makes the group better. If you can see others’ talents and not feel threatened by them or afraid of them, you have learned one of the most useful skills in life.

Every night, Pinky asks, “Gee, Brain, what do you want to do tonight?” And the Brain always answers quietly but confidently: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world!” That’s what Fr. Stephen and I are doing here in Fort Smith. That’s what God the Father and God the Son are doing through the Church. And that’s what you can do, too, if you are not afraid of people who are different from you.

Praised be Jesus Christ!