Understanding poetry in high school was difficult for me. One day, we read a poem about a rose and the teacher asked what the red flower represented.

“The red rose is all about passion, about love and about the soul,” a student said, obviously trying too hard to impress.

“Very good. That’s wonderful,” the teacher replied. “Does anyone else want to share what the rose means?”

With no idea of the meaning of the rose, I raised my hand to test out a theory.

“The rose is the red color of a firetruck, which means the flower will save the person in the poem from danger,” I said.

“That’s just excellent!” replied the teacher. “What a beautiful insight!”

I slunk back in my seat. I wanted her to tell me I was wrong or the girl was wrong. Somebody had to be wrong! The rose can’t be both passion and a firetruck! That day I didn’t learn poetry, I learned that no one is wrong.

That lesson is worth repeating. No one is wrong about anything if that’s what you think or that’s how you feel.

The law tells a person committing a crime that he’s wrong, but in his mind and at that moment he hurt the victim, he had convinced himself he was right. Then when he’s sent to prison, he objects to his severe punishment. So now the tables have turned and he’s the victim of punishment and he feels wronged.

Nineteenth century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham wrote, “The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”

So at one time slavery was not wrong because the majority of the people were happy to own slaves. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler was not wrong. His people were happy for the country’s rising economy and his imperialistic desire to conquer Europe.

In 1632, the Catholic Church told astronomer Galileo that the sun revolved around the fixed Earth even though he proved the opposite was true. The church was right simply because the institution was the most powerful governing body in Europe at that time, and whatever they declared was truth.

According to Bentham, whatever the majority of people feel is right, then it’s “right.” Of course this creates conflict within the heart of the individual. When Rosa Parks refused to sit in he back of the bus, she felt she was right even though that’s where the law said she should be.

In the movie version of the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Huck wants to turn slave Jim in to the authorities for being a runaway because it’s the right thing to do, but Jim explains the moral dilemma in a way that Huck will understand.

“Just because everybody thinks something is right, don’t make it right,” he told the boy.

So can you be right when everybody else is wrong?

Author Hope Alcocer wrote, “It’s called an inner voice for a reason. It’s the gnawing feeling inside your stomach telling you yes or no. It’s the one voice in your life that isn’t tampered by other’s biased opinions, scars, feelings or thoughts. Go with it, you know yourself better than anyone ever does.”

Great advice, but can you get below the surface of everyone telling you what’s right and what’s wrong to trust your inner voice and do what you want to do even if the authorities say no?

Chelsea Sedoti, author of “As You Wish,” wrote, “Choices, by nature, are not right or wrong. They are only different paths, all ultimately leading to the same end.”

We live by rules set forth by our parents, our schools and our government. We’re told to obey authority, and yet, some of the greatest figures who changed the course of history and how we live were rebels. Perhaps the most significant revolutionary was Jesus, who according to Christian belief, was crucified because he didn’t follow the order of law.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Trust thyself. Accept the place that Divine Providence has found for you.”

So I’ve decided I’m going to speak my mind and do what my heart tells me to do because Jesus has my back.

And by the way, whenever I look at a red rose, I’ll think of a red firetruck. Like I said on that day back in high school, both can save someone from danger.

Rich Strack can be reached at katehep11@gmail.com.