Perpendicular lines intersect at right angles, which means one of the lines points straight up and down, and the other is completely flat. We can think of being righteous as choosing to live our lives in a manner that runs perpendicular, or at right angles, to the way that everyone else chooses to live their lives. To be righteous, or to be at a right angle, is to stand up and stick out and to not just go with the flow. So many of us are tempted to change our orientation and our outlook so that it runs parallel to everyone else’s, so that we can become a part of the line of best fit. It is perfectly natural to adopt this herd mentality. After all, it's the herd mentality that helps keep the herd alive. But our Heavenly Father did not send us to this Earth so that we could learn to imitate the animals and to do what comes naturally. Our Heavenly Father gave us the capacity to look up, to orient ourselves in such a way as to rise above our baser instincts and to stand up for what’s right. Just as there is a physical force of gravity that naturally pulls everything down to the path of least resistance, the World exerts a spiritual force of gravity that entices and compels and draws all of us to focus only on ourselves and our own pains and pleasures, only on the here and now. To stand tall physically is to fight against the incessant pull of gravity, and to stand tall spiritually and to be righteous is to fight against the incessant pull of the World and the Natural Man that lulls us into a state of carnal security, sapping our strength, dulling our ambitions, robbing us of our hopes and dreams. It will always be a challenge to stand up for what is right and to orient ourselves orthogonally from the ways of the world. We will always be in danger of falling, just as we are always in danger of falling every time we stand. But we are not alone. When we are struggling to stand up for what is right, we can hold fast to the iron rod and we can turn to our Savior so that He may lift up the hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble knees. I know that the Lord desires a peculiar and a perpendicular people, and that He blesses those who choose to stand upright when everyone else chooses to lie down and go with the flow.
