Moral Compass

"There's a morality... I think there's a moral compass... whether that comes from religion or just from being a good person... I'm a good person, I hope. But I'm never as good as I want to be, never as nice as I want to be, never as generous as I want to be."

-- David Tennant, actor

My moral compass is broken.  Has been for a long time.  My life is guided by dead reckoning, by understanding where I've been, calculating the variations caused by the surrounding environment, and having some idea of where I wish to end up.  There was a time when my moral compass was a bright, shiny thing whose needle unfailingly pointed in the appropriate direction, and yet I found myself increasingly off course in unfamiliar territory.  I was naive to those environmental variations which had a minute effect on my supposed heading.

"It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil. The important thing is the moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities."

-- Anthony Burgess (1917-1993), writer, composer

After a while, the unfamiliar territories in which I found myself became an all too familiar territory of the unknown and I became more and more comfortable with navigating these waters.  My hand steadied from the early fears and I learned the tiller needed to be moved opposite of my desires in order to attain them.  I came to a realization that you can't truly know God until you've danced with the devil.  When dancing with the devil one must remember to lead.  I arrived at balance in my life by keeping my friend close, and my enemy closer.  Does this make me righteous?  Not on a bet, but it does allow me to recognize righteous when I see it.  It is easy to recognize evil but, then, I rarely see innocence anywhere save the eyes of a child.

"It was a pity that there was no radar to guide one across the trackless seas of life. Every man had to find his own way, steered by some secret compass of the soul. And sometimes, late or early, the compass lost its power and spun aimlessly on its bearings."

-- Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), author, inventor

Lenny Bruce once said, "Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God."  My dead reckoning has steered me well away from the corrupt influence of "organized religion" and onto the path of unerring faith. Now, one might define "unerring" as an egotistical assumption on my part that my life is righteous. Oh, hell no. My life is anything but righteous. What unerring faith means is that I have an unwavering belief in a God for which there is little proof for existence. My life errs constantly, but not my faith in the ultimate creative power in the universe.

My faith does not limit itself to a box defined by religious "precepts and ideas." My faith is defined by the only constant in the universe - change. As I grow and learn, I redefine the borders of my faith. At times I even question my faith as a way of learning more about it and strengthening my resolve in this life. We must always question that which we don't understand and not allow others to define our life and beliefs. What we believe is personal and peculiar to each of us. One person's faith should not be another's any more than one person's path can be walked by another; similar, yes, but not exactly the same. A person's beliefs or faith, especially spiritual faith, cannot be dictated by a church or other governing body. What, who, and why we are is dictated by the choices we make, and those choices are driven by our individual faith in something greater than ourselves. We can choose to set off toward an unknown horizon or we can sail in circles for eternity. The choice is always ours.  This circus and this monkey are ours to embrace. 

"The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of soul, as each faith tries to protect its doctrines and institution instead of nurturing the evolution of consciousness. If one is not careful to distinguish the genuine insights of a religion from its irrelevant accretions, one can go through life following an inappropriate moral compass."

-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist, author

If I can freely honestly admit that my moral compass is broken, what does this say about organized religion when they find themselves constantly mired down in public controversy?  I don't fondle young children and I don't ask parishioners to purchase me a fifth jet.  Why in God's good name does anyone need five jets, and why are parishioners that gullible to keep buying them?  Talk about your broken compass.  If your compass needle is pointing "north" toward the rising sun, you have an issue if you don't see something is obviously wrong.  Just saying.

"A sense of shame is not a bad moral compass."

-- Gen. Colin Powell, USMC (Ret.), American statesman

So, how do I know my moral compass is broken?  Well, I suppose most standards set forth by women would define me as a bit of a pig.  Oh, I control it to a fault but, in my mind, even I have to consider the fact that I still rate a bit of pig status.  I know it.  I embrace it, and I try not to express it visually.  I occasionally fail at not vocalizing it, but the "oink" is still rolling around in the sty, nonetheless.  

Control of your compass, broken or not, is paramount.  It takes one to know one, but you don't have to let everyone in on the secret.  What fun is that?  Regardless of someone's shortcomings, when you let them know you know their mind, it can be unsettling to them and may open the door to ministering at some level.  Even if you don't identify with a particular issue, the ability to read them, catch the "tell" so to speak, can be invaluable to opening a door they're begging for someone to open, and even for some who'd rather leave that door shut.

"When we keep something, we hold it close to our hearts and allow it to progressively become our object of focus. The action of keeping becomes personal and intimate, not regulated by an outside authority. Whatever we keep becomes an object we love and cherish, and it becomes a center point from which the rest of our lives flow--like a compass."

-- Benjamin L. Corey, missiologist, author

I mentioned toward the beginning of this post about dancing with the devil and keeping your enemies closer than your friends.  A broken compass is the playground of evil and, as we all should know, evil can only enter where it is invited.  This is the prime reason we need to recognize our weaknesses, embrace them, and control them.  A broken compass is still a compass and, if you understand it, it is still a useful tool.  Take the compass needle pointing to the rising sun; obviously pointing toward the east.  Knowing this, one can adjust to the left and feel fairly confident they are heading north, as long as the universe hasn't farted and the needle keeps point to a rising sun. In this way, even the broken compass becomes a tool for good, even if just to assist in your "dead reckoning."

“Why is it that we don’t worry about a compass until we’re lost in a wilderness of our own making?”

-- Craig D. Lounsbrough, author, counselor, minister

Think about it.  If a compass is always righteous, you risk becoming complacent.  If you know your compass is, at times, faulty, you develop your other senses to compensate - and then you bear left.  God issues you one compass for your journey, at birth.  You are also given a path, your path, which you must find on your own, using your compass.  So, you either learn to use your moral compass, broken or not, or learn to fix it, or satisfy yourself with being lost all the time.  You can't give gifts back once you've broken them, especially not to God, unless offending God is on your to-do list.  Again, just saying. 

You may find yourself welcoming God each morning and acknowledging to the Almighty your awareness of enemies at your gate; you want them there, close, so you know where they are.  It is when you don't see them that you need be concerned; when the drums stop beating is when you need to reach for sword and armor.  In this way, good is always mindful of evil in its midst, even if one's compass is a bit off the mark.

“If I end up at the edge of this cliff one more time than the number of times I’ve walked away from it, I need to burn my map, trade in my compass and ask God for a new set.”

-- Craig D. Lounsbrough, author, counselor, minister

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.