Decisions, decisions, choices, choices…..
Lent – Week 4 – Compass
Week 4 of ‘Faith At Work‘ is called “Moral Compass”, and seeks to explore how we can keep our integrity in our work, in our play, in our daily life in this modern and fast-changing world.
But what is a ‘Moral Compass’?
If you type “Moral Compass” into Google, you’ll find 3,270,000 hits, all of which either say how essential it is to have one, or how fragile and difficult it is to maintain one! I agree with both, so how can we ensure that our actions and motives are guided by that true North of Truth that builds trust in our relationships?
The phrase “Moral Compass” balances ideas around ethics, virtue, compassion, and justice. It is partly instinctive, but also learned through our experiences and traditions, both secular and cultural. I try to ensure accuracy as I wrestle with both faith questions and my everyday dilemmas by remaining faithful and steeped in trying to understand human motivations and actions in the light of my journey into ‘other’ or God. The core of this is demonstrated in the whole of the ‘salvation history’, and shared in the chaotic story of biblical narrative and human lives lived out just like ours.
I have to keep focussing my mind on the Christ and his teaching and actions. There I find a willingness to be open to all not just the vulnerable but the rich young ruler; not just the leper but in the courts of the powerful. Jesus’ compass was always toward God, and he was willing to challenge the ‘norms’ i.e. speaking to women and others found ‘unacceptable’ at all levels of society; touching and being touched by those that others avoided; saying “ let the children come unto me”. Somewhere in all of this my ‘moral compass’ is calibrated, I hope, along the same lines and in the same direction as Jesus’, towards good not evil, towards progress not regress.
Back to those 3,270,000 cases of “Moral Compass” on Google: What do the words “moral compass” mean to you? What guides the decisions and choices you make in life?
