What Is a Liahona?

 I love reading.

When I was young, I read everything I could get my hands on. In my pre-teen years, that meant a lot of Tom Swift and Hardy Boys. Later, JRR Tolkien, Madeleine L’Engle, and Michael Crichton dominated my book case.

When college came, I spent far less time in leisure reading and a lot more time studying textbooks and scholarly articles.

In my late twenties, I started reading a lot of business books and religious texts. Now, my shelves are adorned by books from John C. Maxwell, Seth Godin, Daniel H. Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, Jim Collins, Simon Sinek, and Carol S. Dweck.

Religious texts, however, are my favorite. I belong to a prominent Christian faith, but love to learn what other religions — Christian or otherwise — espouse. Nearly everywhere we look, truth can be found; not the kind of morally relativistic truth being pushed by Fox and CNN, but real, universal truth.

The literature I read and enjoy informs my thoughts which, in turn, inform my actions. You are what you eat, they say. Turns out, you are also what you read. (This isn’t perfunctory reading but reading with the intent of learning. I usually call that studying.)

In my favorite religious text, there is a passage that references something called a Liahona; something like a faith-powered guide or compass. When the people are faithful, the Liahona points the way they should go. When they’re not, they’re lost.

I spent two years in Guatemala as a representative of Jesus Christ. It was nearly twenty-five years ago. Back then, most roads in most cities had no clear naming or numbering convention. So, it was very difficult to find things.

A seasoned lawyer and his untiringly supportive wife led our group of missionaries. He had been in Guatemala for around eighteen months when I arrived there. He had a keen sense of direction though his directions often included references to buildings of a particular color, shape, or size, or a three-legged dog tied to that one Huito tree.

I learned very quickly that if I followed his directions exactly I wouldn’t get lost. If I deviated from those instructions, I would invariably find myself on one-way streets that would take me in the opposite direction I had hoped to go.

Eventually, I learned to navigate the streets of Guatemala City without a map (MapQuest was still being developed). I even figured out how to get around significant roadblocks when heavy rain would wash out river crossings in more far-flung regions.

There are so many loud voices today that — perhaps without saying it out loud — want us to stop thinking for ourselves and accept what they have to say as truth. Drawing a line where moral relativism becomes extreme and where it begins to infringe on the rights of others is a tricky proposition.

It’s in knowing where we stand and what our compass actually is that help protect us from being swayed by harmful voices. Parenthetically, it’s important to be open-minded to all sides of most conversations, but make no mistake that there are people out there who are intent on creating and fomenting societal issues.

Now, consider the Liahona as a metaphor for our internal moral compass. When we’re true to our values and principles, the path ahead is a lot clearer. We’ll still face challenges — that’s just life — but it means that we can face them with more consistency and resolution because we can trust our learned wisdom.

The concept of a Liahona is more relevant now than ever. The world is filled with misinformation and conflicting schools of thought that are shouted rather than discussed with civility. Having a personal guide to navigate through the noise is invaluable.

During my time in Guatemala, I had to rely on more than just physical directions. I needed to trust my own ability to adapt, to understand, and to find new ways of navigating unfamiliar territory. Similarly, in life, we often find ourselves in unfamiliar territory. It’s in these moments that our ‘Liahona’ — whether it be faith, intuition, or moral guidance — becomes crucial. It helps us stay the course when the way forward isn’t always visible.

In today’s society, it’s easy to get lost in the myriad of voices and opinions vying for our attention. This idea of a Liahona teaches us the importance of inner guidance. By cultivating a strong sense of personal integrity and aligning ourselves with real truths, universal truths, we can find our way through the fog of uncertainty. This personal compass, nurtured through reflection, learning, and even faith, can guide us to make decisions that are true to our values, even in the most complex situations.