I learn a lot about life from the forces of nature. Mountains are both magnificent and treacherous. Thick fog can hide the landscape. The vision ahead may be down to a few metres. I desperately need a compass to find my way. There are also storms. Gusts of wind may throw me off balance. I need something to hold onto or big rocks to provide protection.
Through the ages people have tried to formulate moral and spiritual guidelines to steer us through the ups and downs of life and protect us from danger, as well as describe a reality that gives us meaning beyond our material environment. Well over one hundred years ago Frank Buchman, later the founder of Moral Re-Armament, was searching for a way to explain moral truths simply and clearly. He wanted people to find a new life, as he himself had found it, through an experience of what Jesus Christ had done for him on the Cross. He had learnt to trust God, and he experienced His presence in everyday life. He was grappling with how to reach people’s minds and hearts with simple and basic truths. In a book by Professor Henry Wright, one of his contemporaries, he found a reference to four moral standards of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. These standards were first presented and explained in another book ‘The Principles of Jesus’ by Robert E. Speer. Buchman decided to adopt them as ‘a rough and ready summary of the moral teachings of the Sermon on the Mount.’ (Frank Buchman: A Life, by Garth Lean, chapter 8, ‘First Principles’, pages 73-77). The streams on which Buchman drew are well documented in the book Streams.
At the end of the 1960s I was part of a Christian student organization in my home country Norway. We wanted to break free from religious prejudices and the mentality of ‘you must and mustn’t do this or that’. In the wider society the 1968-student uprising and protests shook the foundations of post-war European society. Many wanted to get free from what they regarded as the shackles of morality and religion. Old truths were challenged and discarded to gain freedom.
Freedom, however, does not exist in a vacuum. Once we had thrown out old prejudices and narrow-minded views; new people, movements and organizations came knocking on our doors to offer their views on what mattered in life. With the help of internet, they turned our minds and hearts into battlegrounds. Many promote meaningful and good ideas, but internet has also turned freedom of expression into the freedom to tell lies. Many use it to lure us into destructive habits and addictions. Some are after our money, others want to give us selected and distorted information to secure our allegiance to their cause, party or organization. We are led into circles of narrow-minded people offering us illusions in the disguise of truth.
In this context we desperately need a moral compass, in our private lives as well as in shaping society. It may be high time to raise the flag of simple eternal truths, which could be expressed through the four absolute standards or using different words. We need to find our way through the fog of lies, but even more important, to disperse this fog from human communication.
Initiatives of Change is smaller than it used to be, but it has in the last decades been active in building bridges and laying foundations for reconciliation between people of different races, cultures and religions. People have learnt to listen to the suffering of others. Focus has been on healing the wounds of the past.
However, the time may also have come to stand up more boldly and publicly for simple moral truths which cut through lies, confusion and corruption. Moral Re-Armament did it successfully in the past. Sometimes exaggerated claims were made, and aware of this, we may be watching our steps too carefully these days.
There is another problem today. When Frank Buchman worked out his message and Moral Re-Armament spread across the world, people were more familiar with moral principles and a language of faith in God. We try to be as inclusive as possible, but may water down the message as a result. Or, we are caught between a tolerance of ideas where everything and nothing is true, and the fanaticism of some extreme religious beliefs.
Will simple eternal truths disperse the fog of lies? The demagogues and liars suffocate their consciences and shame and repeat their lies with such confidence that people in the end fall for them. We can repeat God’s eternal truths with humility and confidence, trusting that they will get through, sooner or later.
Reflecting on our lives in the light of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love, bring a liberating revelation of who we really are. No more pretending. No more defending a false image. I will never forget a person who, moved by someone else’s honesty, went home and told his wife what he was doing behind her back, asked forgiveness and decided to change. Their radiant joy and enthusiasm came to mean a lot to me and others.
Sadly, experiences of liberation are sometimes moulded into patterns of rigid behaviour. This is no surprise. It is what Jesus was up against. In the Sermon on the Mount, he wanted to break through all false good behaviour and called for people to give their hearts and their whole lives to God.
There are two areas where the four standards might have particular effect in today’s world. Think of what purity combined with honesty and unselfishness would do to hidden agendas in the lives of all of us. In particular, I think of the articles and analyses journalists and experts write to discern the real motives of powerful politicians, the hidden agendas behind their claims and promises. Purity could cause a revolution. Then there is the light that unselfishness shines where billionaires are growing both in numbers and size. What would unselfishness lead to in the corridors of power?
“The Christian standards of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love are the foundation stones of the state,” Frank Buchman wrote to a friend at the end of the 1930-ies. (‘Frank Buchman: A Life’, by Garth Lean, chapter 24, ‘Moral Re-Armament Goes Public’, page 279).
I have written mainly about the moral compass. I have not given due space to the anchor mentioned in the headline. But it is of no less importance. The very foundations and framework of life together on this earth are today being shaken and broken. We need something to hold onto. When the storms batter the harbours, the boats need solid anchors not to drift off to sea. For me the anchor is God’s unconditional love. At the same time, there are many selfless people who do not believe in God, and in their care and courage I have seen a love that is stronger than the hate which kills people and flattens their homes. Love outlasts hate. That is our anchor.
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