There are two tools from the military that relate to our everyday lives. The Navy has anchors with its ships that keeps the shift from drifting away from the intended location. The Army and Marines rely heavily on a compass in land exercises to show direction. Both tools keep focus on the intended course of travel and both prevent erroneous detours.
As we travel the journey of life, we also need something to keep us on course in the right direction. Many of our organizations and professions and even some churches have a code of ethics or a covenant to guide their membership in an expected rightful path for walking out the intent of that body. In addition to being a guide to “walk the talk”, these covenants and codes also are sometimes used to police up members who stray away from the course in a way that is harmful to those served by the profession, organization, etc.
My profession is counseling and I teach a course on professional orientation to students wanting to be a counselor. One of the assignments has them reflect on comparison of their personal code of ethics with the written professional codes of ethics for counselors. It is amazing how many students have a very fuzzy idea of what their personal code is and how it informs the way they live each day. Even those students who claim to be Christian and live by the bible seem to have a hard time verbalizing how the bible directs them in core professional standards like keeping confidentiality and ethical relationships.
I have always felt that my life anchor and compass have been formed and maintained by two core influences – the Christian upbringing of my childhood and my military career. Despite our societal tendency toward “do what feels good” and the beauty of ambiguity, rules and standards do keep us on track as do an anchor and a compass. Without rules and standards, people just drift around at the mercy of whatever shows up – ill prepared to deal with it.
