ALAN SPARROW
In junior high I had a project in AWANA to navigate to a location using only basic instructions and a compass. My dad took me out to the farm where he grew up and had me go through a more rugged part of the land. It was the only time I did anything with a compass, but it worked because we used the same instructions, and we could trust the compass. At times I felt lost, but I ended up close enough to the intended destination that I reached the goal.
I think it’s fascinating that our planet’s axis is nearly identically aligned to its magnetic field. That’s what makes a compass work. The compass is a small magnet that points to a large magnet. But there is a potential problem. A compass can be pulled away by other magnets.
I think everyone is born with a moral compass. It points us toward what is right and away from what is wrong. We all have a conscience, and it seems to point in a similar direction. So why aren’t we all arriving at the same location? How are we so deeply divided as a nation? Those are different questions. Our differences often make us stronger, but division often doesn’t.
If we all agreed on everything, most of us wouldn’t be necessary. In college I think I learned the most from some of the professors I disagreed with. Most couples I know are very different from each other. We tend to complement each other. Our differences make us stronger and better if we let them.
Division comes from somewhere else. Sometimes division is important or unavoidable, but many times it’s not. I think a lot of the division we face as a country today has to do with something interfering with our moral compasses. Think about something that has upset you recently that happened politically. There’s a good chance that in the last 10 years someone else in the opposite political party has done something similar. It’s good to take a step back and ask, did that bother me too? If I have consistently been bothered by it, then my compass seems to be working. If it only bothers me when the other side acts that way, I might need to remove a magnet from my compass.
Now is the time to remove as much unnecessary division as possible. We can’t make anyone do it. We have to choose to do our part ourselves. And we can set a good example. I think our county does that. We don’t have the huge division that we see elsewhere. It’s part of why I love calling it home. Let’s do a little compass maintenance and make it even better.
Alan Sparrow is co-owner of the Polk County News. Find his column, Alan’s Anecdotes, each week in the newspaper and online at www.polkcountynews. net.
