Do you rest peacefully at night?
Not a Serta mattress conversation. (I’m not asking about counting sheep.)
I mean, do you feel at peace, when you lay your head down onto the pillow?
Is there a connectedness between you and the day you toiled through? Did hard work bring you a sense of solace?
There’s a lot to be said for the integrity of a hard day’s work. Farmers can say it – physically, Stock Market workers attest to it – mentally, and especially school teachers – spiritually.
The work yields a bit of satisfaction. Doesn’t it? On some level?
Knowing that you remained steadfast, even during the tantrums that a high schooler might’ve thrown.
Whether you adhere to the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, or neither, this bit about integrity is a universal quality we all possess as human beings.
As William Penn wrote, “Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
Wise man.
So, it doesn’t matter if you are one extreme or another on the Myers – Briggs Personality Test, you are still human and you value honesty, integrity, and mutual respect.
- Leaving work 15 minutes before the departure time,
- not logging a vacation day you took,
- letting someone into the movies without a ticket, etc…these are all ways we can compromise our integrity, and for the believer, our witness.
For these reasons, and the love of the Creator, it’s essential that our actions speak louder, and our Yesses be Yes. And our Nos be No.
Maybe we remember 9/11/01, but may we also strive to live with the urgency of the unknown. None of us know our departure date from earth. For this reason alone, integrity should be key to daily decision-making.