Original Nautical Poetry: Just One Degree

 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness

Alma 57:21

Just One Degree

By J. Brad Chapman

October 5, 1998

Here's a little scenario, I'd like to offer you.

In it, you're the captain of a ship, you're brave and true.

And you'll be in command  of the course and of the crew.

But first, let me share a navigational tip with you.

If on your voyage you set a course, but you're off just one degree,

Will you make the port of call across the deep blue sea?

Or will you find a lonely place on some far distant shore,

and realize a small mistake was at your problem's core?

Just one degree in three-sixty doesn't seem an awful lot,

Unless you want to end your voyage at some pre-arranged spot.

You see, my friend, just one degree, when crossing oceans wide,

Could make you a poor lost soul, or a triumphant guide.

And yes, there is a price we pay when we are not precise;

It makes our chance of life's success like the rolling of the dice.

And sloppiness in thought and deed, might not seem so awfully wrong,

Unless you want to end life's voyage spiritually sound and strong.

In the Book of Alma fifty-seven, twenty-one;

We read about Helaman and two thousand of his sons.

Now they survived the battle 'cause of what their mother's taught,

They didn't doubt and they obeyed the orders that they got.

And when the conflict ended, all two-thousand were alive,

They followed with exactness, not one single warrior died.

You see, my friend, just one degree, when crossing oceans wide,

Could make you a poor lost soul, or a triumphant guide.

So here, friend, take the wheel, set the course, it's up to you,

 But realize before you start what one degree can do.

Will you, with exactness be obedient and true,

And steer the straight and narrow course until your voyage is through?

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I wrote this poem as a teaching aid for my children as well as the youth in our ward in Sitka, Alaska where I was serving as the bishop.