Integrity

I have a plaque in my office that says-“ INTEGRITY is doing what is right even when the only one who knows is God.” I used to tell my children that what really counts are the choices we make when no one else is looking. Webster says integrity is “uprightness of character”.
We are losing our integrity as a people, as a nation and as a world. We seem to live in a society that worries more about getting caught than just not doing it in the first place. People blow thru stop signs, cheat on their income taxes, spouses and employers with regularity and see nothing wrong with taking things home from work, i.e. paper, pens, trash bags, TP, copier ink, etc.
I was fired last year in part because I kept the rules. I would not falsify paperwork. To do so was a fireable offense as well as possible prosecution. Apparently, not doing so was also a fireable offense. I guess it was “understood” that everyone did it. That is everyone but me. In choosing to do what was right, I was doing what’s wrong!
Atticus Finch was once described as being “the same person in his home as he was at work.” It was also said of him that he was someone that could always be trusted to do the right thing! Wow, that’s an achievement!
Yes, Atticus is a fictional character but there have been many of whom the same could be said. My daughter-in-law’s grandfather passed away recently. The man that he had worked with for many years said this about him, “He was the same man at work as he was at church.”
One of my young daughters said that she really hated it when people said they would do something and then never did. Lack of integrity! A friend hates to listen to politicians talk because they say what people want to hear. Lack of integrity! Another family member hates people who say one thing and do another. Lack of integrity!
We need a superhero- Integrity Man!! Since most people only care about getting caught, he could catch us and teach us. Or maybe a reality show like Candid Camera? There could be nanny cams all over the place. Or maybe just maybe, we all wake up tomorrow and try each day to be more honest, more true, more integral- even when no one but God is looking. Now there’s a thought!
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?