Integrity, a Key Word

My writing class has started again, and homework was to look out the window and write about whatever comes to mind. I did this today, starting this arvo and coming back to it before retiring. Here we go.

We do the best we can, most of us, most of the time, to be righteous, to do the right thing by our loved ones, neighbours and our community, to be fair, honest and truthful in all our dealings. I do, and most people I know do. There are obvious exceptions that come to mind lately, notably Lance Armstrong, and that mongrel charged with raping and murdering Jill Meagher last year, whom I notice on the news has now been charged on several more counts of rape that occurred in 2000 after being identified by some sort of distinguishing body marks.

I've always felt that most of the time it's not difficult to be good person. Opportunities of personal gain or gratification at the expense of someone else do not come along all that often unless they are actively sought, and most of us are busily bumbling along trying fulfill our committments and organize ourselves to reap our fair share for our daily toil, enjoying some simple pleasures that incidentally come our way. Some are luckier than others in this.

Probably it's only two or three times in a person's life where the word integrity really means something. When you have to act out of decency and honesty against what might otherwise be the easier path, to go along with injustice, when to actively resist would cause inconvenience and loss to us personally in some way, perhaps financially or emotionally.

But it is these few times that mark our worth as human beings. It is these few times that if we make the wrong choice, the standard is set for us and possibly our family, and if enough of us collectively choose not to stand with integrity, our nation as well.

These few times that I refer to are not the minor breeches that we all trip on at some point in our lives, like taking a 'sickie' or picking up and pocketing the fiver or tenner floating down the street and not handing it in. I found a $50 note once in the pub car park and didn't hand it in, and yes, when I was in the public service I took a 'sickie', and I found once there were two wine casks in my ute at the drive in bottlo that I hadn't paid for with the stuff I had paid for, and I didn't go back. Not that I condone such breeches, they are niaive and relatively incidental and universal, but they are bad habits that compromise honesty and integrity and make it easier for the wrong path to be taken when a serious choice does come.

Once integrity is compromised the door to serious corruption is ajar, and I see compromise everywhere. It seems the more fame or power a person has the more risk there is of it. The Lance Armstrong thing is an extreme example, but it reflects the gap between good old fashioned shake the hand sportsmanship that was prevalent on the cricket and football fields, the athletic track, the tennis court in my youth and the avaricious nature of elite level sport today by the administration and the participants. Win at all costs, sponsorship, gate receipts, TV rights, rigged draws, the word sport is hardly appropriate at all, it's all hard nosed business, for profit.

And as for the raping murdering mongrel, I'm sure his deviations started in small innocous ways that gave him an increasing resistance and immunity to decency, ultimately leading to a total void of it, with no conscience when then one of the few times comes when a serious choice between right and wrong presents.

Evil lurks waiting it's chance. From little things big things grow.