Mr. Webster says that integrity is adherence to a code of incorruptibility, an unimpaired condition, and being complete or undivided.
When I was in the Army, one of the seven core values that was drilled into us to live by was integrity. This value was also a foundation in the formation of the USA and for those who still believe in it, integrity continues to be a foundation.
In times past, integrity was a core of relationships and business agreements. You could trust a handshake and someone’s word. We have lost that as a core of most lifestyles. A prime example is in house building and repair. My observation is that Clarke County is eaten up with this as a problem, and a friend from Lauderdale County told me this seems to be a universal issue. He noted that he recently had some “good” home repair completed by a crew who were Hispanic. While we want our borders to keep the home-grown inside, it is a sad observation that those from other cultures often do put us to shame in the realm of integrity.
There are legal procedures that can protect us such as filing charges on a poor house repair job for a person 62 years or older – that is fraud against an elderly person. There are homes that you can move in on wheels or have pre-built components, and these usually come with a guarantee that the shade-tree carpenter or contractor will not give.
However, it is a sad state of affairs that we have to use such measures just to get something done on a home. That might be why many people figure out how to do things themselves and there is growth of DIY videos, classes, etc. We learn to depend on and trust self. That is good but also puts a tear in the fabric of the nation that we were meant to be. It kind of all boils down to failure to be what God created us to be – and that can only be resolved by looking to Him to fix us.
