When you set out for an endeavor, any endeavor, if you are to approach it with some degree of wisdom and determination, there are some essentials you must consider – even before embarking on such a quest. These considerations need to be outlined in some form or fashion, and they must also be amenable to evolution or revision as new information surfaces. This is by no means to say that the desired goal itself can be altered to comply with something like for instance, temporary political whims, no, the evolution mentioned here might rightly and acceptably be applied to your methodology to attain that goal, but not the goal itself. The desired goal must become the sole reason for the project in the first place, and when that goal is in laser focus, the allowable methods to achieve it can be more easily seen as such, and only then can their adaptation or alteration be evaluated.

I will use a simple analogy to make the point. I have to make a trip from my home here in the Ozarks to some distant city, say Seattle. I cannot compromise on this – I must get to Seattle and there’s no way to get the desired end of this endeavor without my taking the trip. Getting to Seattle is the end result and thus is now my goal. Now I need to set about outlining my intended trip. Do I want to fly? How much does airfare cost and is that cost acceptable when considered against the time a road trip will take? I might decide to drive, but if I do, which of my vehicles should I take? Do I take the one that gets the best gas mileage? Is the one cheapest on gas going to have ample room for the things I would like to bring? If not, can I reduce the amount of luggage and still accomplish the trip? Might I have to accept taking more time by driving, and with less luggage than I would have liked to take? And so forth.

None of the above considerations are etched in stone except the end goal – that I must get to Seattle. All of the methods I have available to get there are negotiable – some less stringent, some more, but the methods are nevertheless negotiable and in the end, I might have to accept less than the ideal way to get there, but if I’m willing to compromise in some areas, I will be able to achieve my goal of getting to Seattle. Here’s a point we don’t get while considering a project, and many ideas fail because of precisely this: If I’m unwilling to compromise, even a little on the methodology I would like to use to get there, for instance, if I insist on flying and am unwilling to consider any other method, then the fact that I cannot afford the airfare stops my project dead in its tracks, therefore as with any undertaking, compromise is always necessary if wisely undertaken.

If there is a goal that will requires compromises, then there have to be some rules that regard which compromises are acceptable and which ones are not, and our unwillingness to compromise is the biggest obstacle to getting where we want to go. Is there a rule that requires certain values to be applied when considering compromises to be used? If so, what should the rule(s) be?

Vince Lombardi, arguably the greatest football coach ever to have led a team, once said, “Think of only three things: your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers-in that order.”, and that’s as good of a starting point on a post about compromising as anything this old codger (me) could ever come up with. When your project, your ambition, is important enough to undertake, it is always apt to allow your Spiritual beliefs guide your choices of methodology. Jesus Christ addressed this very concept when He told the parable about assessing the cost of what you set out to do before you undertake to do it. [Luke 14:28]:“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—“. The amount of compromise necessary is thus counted among the costs of the endeavor.

An important point here is whether or not the cost of the project – not only of finances and resources – might be having to abandon one’s righteous principles in order to get it done, and if it is, the project itself is not acceptable, and one should abandon it with no further consideration. If the project can be accomplished without one resorting to compromising one’s Spiritual guidance, then it might be feasible. Remember this refers to the goal itself, not the methodology one might use to accomplish it, but then it also applies to the methodology. If the goal itself is amenable to a person’s Spiritual consciousness, then go for it, but do not allow the methods you choose to get there to cause you to do anything underhanded either. So if in the arguments of how to accomplish one’s desired goal do not go against that which is morally acceptable, they may be considered.

In the Lombardi quote, the family is second in the order of priorities. Although no one in their right mind would do anything to harm their family, sometimes choosing to do the right thing can put us at odds with our families, but depending on where that choice leads, we might indeed find that we have to go against family members, another situation Jesus where warns that by doing the right thing we might indeed cross each other, even within our own families, but then we might not have this situation – and this post isn’t about that – when considering our methods.

Now to the issue. Say a great movement comes along and it seems to offer solutions to the problems our country faces. At first glance, we like what we see and decide to become a part of it. Although the focus of the movement is a bit fuzzy at first, we nevertheless see this movement as an opportunity to ultimately get the country back under the control of the people and the Constitution. That would seem to be a worthy goal but if we think it’s going to be easy, we’re way wrong! We have to reconcile ourselves to accomplishing this goal, making whatever compromises and alliances it takes to achieve it – those which are morally acceptable. We must be big enough to accept as allies some whose political views we don’t agree with – we can try and sort out our political positions after we get where we want to go because to get there we have to work together.

The way God works in the hearts of men, along the way to our goal, if we compromise and work together, we will more than likely find that our differing political views aren’t as imposing and threatening as we have been led to believe by media propaganda. If we but step back and see the big picture, it’s totally easy to see how we’ve been misled with these left/right, red/blue political issues which George Washington himself warned us about – but we went down that road anyway – forming political parties against his advice. Today if we don’t wake up to these media sources drumming racial, political, social and other divisions into our heads, they will continue to own us, and we’ll never break free. This country is full – brimming over – with potential allies whom we have been taught to hate – or at least to avoid. Let’s break free of that mindset today – it’s all part of changing the methods we are willing to consider, to compromise where necessary to try and get where we need to be.

It has been heartening to me to see people of different races, political leanings, and social beliefs dropping, or at least minimizing their differences and coming together lately as we watch those who have been in control of our society arriving at their breaking point – they are losing control of the narrative and at the stage of no return. They can’t turn big segments of society against each other like they did with blacks and whites when they wanted to get the country’s attention off Viet Nam. It was as easy as flipping on a switch but doesn’t seem to work very well now – but don’t let up, they’re still trying, and even trying harder as they see the threat to their dominance. We must resolve to hang together and compromise where necessary to get where we want to be. Compromise. Take the little gas miser car to Seattle, it’ll be a tight squeeze, but you know what? I’m bringing the dogs too! I’m gonna take my own advice and learn to compromise!

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK