Band of Brothers and the Weight of Glory

If even earthly glory can change us, what can heavenly glory do?

I love HBO’s Band of Brothers so much. To my surprise and joy, I learned this year that HBO made a podcast about the show that includes an introductory interview with Tom Hanks and an episode-by-episode walkthrough featuring talks with writers and cast members.

If you haven’t seen it, Band of Brothers dramatizes the role of the 101st Airborne’s “Easy Company” in World War 2, from their training in Georgia through the end of the war. The series is based on Stephen Ambrose’s book (of the same name), and includes footage of interviews with Easy Company soldiers who were still living in the late 90s when it was created. As Tom Hanks explains in his interview, the aim of the show was to be as close to documentary-level depiction as possible: to tell the true stories of the men’s experience in the war.

There’s a lot I could gush about from the podcast (let alone the show); but one aspect of it stood out to me. The writers and actors who made Band of Brothers spent as much time as they could with the surviving members of Easy Company: several actors were able to befriend the men they portrayed on screen.

I can’t think of a better way to describe the actors’ response to their time with the soldiers than to say that they experienced glory.

Glory = Gravity

The Hebrew word for “glory” is also translated “weight:” a substance or presence that we feel as much as see. When we describe someone as having gravitas or gravity, that’s a close analogue. Glory fills space and bends our attention around itself. And the proper response to glory is honor: to recognize and give room to what is glorious.

Over and over, the actors described learning these men’s stories and experiencing their presence in terms adjacent to glory. The soldiers’ courage, dedication, and willingness to risk and sacrifice for their brothers in arms evoked awe in their portrayers. They felt the weightiness of who these men were and what they had done.

Glory calls forth honor

As the makers of Band of Brothers discussed their goals for the show, the theme of honor came up again and again. The glory they saw made them want to honor these men and what they’d done: to portray truthfully their struggles, their challenges, and their heroism. They wanted to pay tribute to glory.

Honor is the natural response to glory. When we see greatness, we want to celebrate it and share it with others. We want others to feel the weight of it as we do.

The series actors in particular mentioned this. Acting (in their words, not mine) can be a fundamentally selfish profession, where I’m concerned with how I look, how many lines I have, etc. But the more time these actors spent with the men they portrayed (Frank John Hughes and Donnie Wahlberg are particularly good interviews here), the more they described just wanting to show what their men had done in the most faithful light possible. They wanted to give honor, not receive it.

Glory changes us

Interestingly, the actors and writers didn’t just talk about being affected by the roles in the moment; almost to a man, they said spending time with the men of Easy Company had changed them. Had made them want to be more grateful, less selfish, more devoted to the relationships that were closest to them. More respectful of those who served others.

Granted, those are words in an interview. But if nothing else, they recognize that there is an appropriate response to the glory of Easy Company’s story. That it should change us. Seeing greatness shouldn’t just make us want to honor it; it should make us want to emulate it.

Easy Company’s story of brotherhood, courage, and sacrifice models a way of living that’s bigger than mere modern self-advancement. That’s not to say they were perfect (they wouldn’t say that); but their experience showed that a life higher than self-interest is possible; and the actors who saw that felt its weight drawing them higher than themselves.

Eternal glory saves us

Again, that’s earthly glory. It can change us for the better. But Christians know that there is an eternal glory that doesn’t just improve us; it saves and totally transforms us.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

Human actions are glorious because they reflect, however dimly, the glory of God. Great character reflects the perfect holiness and wisdom of God. Heroism reflects the awesome power of God. Sacrifice reflects the willingness of God the Son to take on the powers of darkness and God’s own wrath against sin to rescue us. His “weight,” as it were, draws us not just out of ourselves but up into heaven itself. And the more we see that glory, honor it, and let it change us, the more we are transformed degree by degree toward the glory of Christ.