I'm Here,,,Where are you?

Where are you?

I have no sense of direction.  Growing up in Topeka,  Kansas, I had the illusion of knowing which way I was going because of main streets that ran north and south.  Topeka Boulevard and Kansas Avenue basically ran from one side of town to the other, so as long as I knew where I was in relation to those streets, I knew what direction I was travelling.  Obviously, this was before the days of a compass being included as part of our car's dashboard and I was one of those geeks who bought a compass to keep on board.

Luckily,  my penchant for getting turned around (at best) or totally lost (worst case scenario) has not blocked my moral compass.  This is not to say that I haven't diverted from a righteous path (we are all sinners here) but I always recognized the road I was travelling was "not right for me".  Sometimes I traveled down that road longer than I should have but I always knew.

We are now living in a time when a moral compass tends to be optional versus necessary (IMHO).  Oh sure, on the surface EVERYONE says the right things, appears to do the right thing...but are they living the right thing?

A former boss of mine used to always take the opportunity to share with others his tolerance of all things, his generous instruction and guidance versus penalties and consequences, blah blah blah.  He  himself had been a benefactor of a boss who extended grace when errors were made and therefore recognized the importance of second chances. 

Remember the parable in the Bible (Matthew 18:21-35) of the unforgiving debtor?  This began when Peter asked Jesus how many times one should forgive and then went into the story of a king who brought his accounts up to date and found a servant who owed him millions of dollars.  Because he couldn't pay, the king ordered the man to be sold, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.  The man fell down before the king and begged him for patience.  The king felt pity for the man and forgave his debt.  Yet, with this forgiveness, this GRACE, the servant left the king and went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.  He grabbed him by the throat and demanded payment.  He ignored the fellow servants pleas and had the man arrested and thrown into prison until the debt was paid.  When the king found out what had happened, he called the forgiven man back and after calling him an evil servant who after being extended grace, could not extend it on his own, sent him to prison to be tortured until his debt was paid.

Wow.  A whole new meaning to "pay it forward".  This former boss (as those of us who worked regularly with him soon realized) did not extend unconditionally, the same grace he enjoyed.   Regardless of intent, he effectively filtered his moral compass to make it acceptable.

We have all put filters on our own moral compass throughout life.  Maybe this made it easier for us to have what we wanted.  Maybe we used it as an excuse for some type of behavior that we knew was not exactly what it should be.  Regardless, some of us, (most of us?) subconsciously know what we are doing.  And we find our way back ....back to where we need to be.

A reset if you will.  If something isn't working, first you hit the reset button.   It takes you back to where you need to be.....dare I say, want to be.  It is as simple as that. 

Where are you?

Until next time,
#reset

your pal,
Kari