Long Division — And Not The Math Kind

Somewhere around second or third grade, children in school encounter division. Along with addition (which comes first), subtraction, and multiplication, it is one of the four basic math skills. For many it is the most difficult of the four, including the strange way you display it on paper. That odd little partial house, with the number to be divided under the roof and the number to be divided by outside the front door, with the answer written on top of the roof and the steps going down to the basement, can be intimidating.

By reading my description, you might suppose (accurately) that words and pictures are much more my thing than actual math. I was OK at it, though it never appealed to me until much later in life. That was when I tripped across someone who approached math from the creative side. That made all of math more fun, even division.

Whether or not math is taught, or how (remember Common Core? — golly!), is unknown to me. We all still need to know those four basic skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, whether we are a clerk making change at In-N-Out Burger or a trader on Wall Street.

Of course we use those math terms to describe things other than math. Allow me to illustrate.

Do the math

Often we use a math term to describe what has happened in life. When a young couple has their first baby, the announcement might say, “We have a new addition!” It might even be said of them that they have “multiplied.”

The population of the United States has grown by tens of millions over the last four or five years, and that is not from lots of people having lots of babies. It is from immigrants, some who have settled in America in accordance with American law and perhaps 30,000,000 who have simply walked in and stayed.

interestingly, that addition has created division. That is, some citizens of the United States advocate for open borders. Let anyone come in who wants to, basically. Other citizens oppose open borders and would limit addition by immigration to those who have been well vetted first. Thus, there is division.

Subtraction has also caused division, specifically around the issue of abortion. Instead of adding people to the population through natural birth, pregnancies have been terminated. Clearly many people are in favor of allowing abortion for any reason at almost any time in the pregnancy. Many other people (and I fall into this category) believe life begins at conception and oppose abortion on demand. The result is division.

Can You Feel It?

I chose those two areas because they have become popular “rallying cries” for both sides of a divide. I even went so far as to identify with one side of one issue, and I did all of that just so I could ask you this question: “How does that make you feel?”

Here is another issue that divides people, but I’m guessing you can read this and you won’t feel a thing. There is a group of mathematicians who believe that Sir Isaac Newton invented calculus, and another group that gives Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz the credit. How about you?

See, I told you that you wouldn’t feel a thing. For most of the world, there is no emotion in calculus, and it is our emotions that create, escalate, and maintain our stubborn divisions. Sometimes an issue will create a “long division,” because for the life of us we cannot figure out how to overcome our emotions.

Where Did That Come From?

A few weeks ago I told a friend that Do Good U was thinking about a particular business strategy. At first he liked it, but he later thought we shouldn’t do it because “it might be controversial.” You know, kind of like calculus.

In the ensuing discussions I asked him who he thought the most controversial person in history was. His first answer was “Trump.” I said, “Not even close.”

(Allow me an aside here to say that his answer is part of the division problem we have. One side or another picks a symbol, often a person, and then sticks every label they don’t like on that person. I have heard people say the name “Trump” in reverent tones, and others say it with disgust. They don’t know Donald Trump, he’s just a symbol. We should be better than that.)

My friend might have said, “Lincoln.” The 16th president of the United States dealt with a division in the country that makes our divisions today pale by comparison. He was adored by many, vilified by many, and assassinated as part of a plot to kill him, Secretary of State William H. Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson all at the same time. Only Lincoln died.

But the correct answer to my question of most controversial person is Jesus of Nazareth. And he knew it. In fact he told his 12 closest followers, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword.” He was not advocating violence — he is known, in fact, as the Prince of Peace — the sword was a symbol of the division that would be caused by his message. He spoke the truth, and the truth is always divisive.

All of that makes me think that if our work at Do Good U is not controversial in some way, we may be doing something wrong.

Undividing

My hope, however, is that the idea of doing good is an undivider.

Though some prefer “every man for himself,” our message is do good to all. We believe everyone can choose to do good, and that those who do will realize incredible benefits. We also believe that more good in a home and more good in the world makes them both a better place to live.

We even think doing good can bring people who disagree on other things together again. And wouldn’t that be good?

Do good. It’s in you.