Friends,

I am writing this on Wednesday, which is the Feast Day of Florence Nightingale. I typically stick with the normal lessons for the mid-week service, but I felt compelled to read her biography, and wow! She is even more interesting than I assumed.

She felt called to serve by God in a trance as a young woman. This experience was so profound that she decided never to marry and to study nursing against her affluent family’s wishes. After becoming a nurse volunteered to nurse soldiers in Crimea and revolutionized nursing in military facilities, even in the face of officers' opposition. After the war, she did the same in hospitals and fought on the political front to improve sanitation at home and in the British military in India. She remained Anglican but befriended Catholic Bishops, and had an ever-changing understanding of God. She was consistently devout in her actions, but questioned constantly. In an unpublished book on the nature of God, she described the divine as an impersonal force, rather than an entity that can have empathy. The book remained unpublished, but in her diaries in the following years, she would reaffirm her faith and God’s personal call for her to serve.

The one bit I cannot get over is that she was likely the first person to use pie charts to convey statistical information to any effect. She was desperate to get Parliament to care about the hygiene of military hospitals and facilities, so she used pie charts to show that infection was far deadlier than the enemy. Pie charts were around for decades, but were considered a novelty for intellectuals. She used this novelty to show that caring for others makes strategic sense, not just ethical sense. The next time you see a pie chart, think of the lives Florence Nightingale saved with this tool.

There is part of this story that I find compelling in the most uncomfortable sort of way. She should not have needed to compel people to want to preserve life, especially the lives of soldiers fighting for their nation. When faced with opposition to human decency, my temptation would be to shame them, and I would have gotten nowhere with my cause. Her approach was much more effective. She took a moment to understand how their thought process worked and gave them the tools to change their minds on their own terms. Armed with a calling to serve, an understanding of statistics, and …pie charts, she made a difference.

There is a grace in Nightingale’s pragmatism that I find lacking in our society. Our desire for ethical and ideological purity keeps us safe from having to engage with those we deem to be sinners, while ensuring little gets done. Nightingale no more justified the position of hard-hearted members of parliament than Jesus justified the occupation of tax collectors when he ate with them. Being focused on ministry and throwing ourselves and our souls into the effort can lead to unexpected partnerships, and even help turn our opponents into allies.

Blessings,

Nick