Every little step

Do what you know to be right even in the little things, columnist says.

I’m going to betray my age when I tell you I grew up listening to vinyl records on a “high-fidelity” record player, also known as the “hifi.” I miss that old hi-fi, and I also miss a time when high fidelity was more the rule than the exception.

High-fidelity music is defined as “The electronic reproduction of sound as close as possible to the original, with minimal distortion or imperfection.”

There is also a recording technique used by punk rock and heavy metal bands called “lo-fi.” It intentionally contains flaws such as distortion, hum and background noise.There’s a third fidelity category of even lesser quality called “nofi” where the recording is even darker and more inferior in sound quality. You can choose to be a hi-fi, lo-fi or no-fi kind of person.

You know where this is going, don’t you?

I yearn for our families and our world to be filled with high-fidelity people. Not lo-fi nor no-fi, but hi-fi. Semper fi.

Semper fi is the Latin phrase that translates “always faithful.” That’s what fidelity is, whether it’s in the music industry or in real life.

Faithfulness or fidelity means that it’s genuine. The real thing. It rings true. Kind of like the U.S. Marines.

The phrase “Semper fi” wasn’t originated by the Marines, but it has surely been embodied by them. Here’s what one Marine, Cam Beck, wrote about the Corp’s motto:

What is left unsaid in the motto is also notable. The phrase “Always faithful.” It isn’t “Sometimes Faithful.” Nor is it “Usually Faithful,” but always. It is not negotiable. It is not relative, but absolute. The simplicity of the phrase and the calculated neglect to specify its parameters seems to strengthen it. Marines pride themselves on their straightforward mission and steadfast dedication to accomplish it. Things do not need to be spelled out for them; they know what it means and what to do about it.

When it comes to being a high-fidelity, Semper fi kind of person, most of us do not need things spelled out either. Being faithful to our families, our jobs, ourselves and our God usually means simply doing what we know to be right even in the little things. Every day. Faithfully.

It is seldom someone wakes up in the morning and spontaneously says to themselves, “I think I’ll walk out on my family today!” Or while eating breakfast decides, impromptu, “Today’s a good day to commit adultery.” We seldom fall directly off a cliff into the valley of lo/no fidelity. We make our way into that valley through small compromises.

The one who walks out on his or her family began taking small steps toward the door months before. Adultery began during a lunch conversation that lingered a bit too long. As C.S. Lewis says in his book, “The Screwtape Letters:” “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” If we are to be hi-fi people, we must be ever mindful of the gentle slope, soft underfoot.

Do you yearn to be part of a family of high-fidelity people? Begin with yourself. And begin by being faithful in seemingly small things. Every day.