Sacred Honor

I first read (or heard) The Declaration Of Independence many years ago. Can't remember exactly when, because it didn't have much impact on a young farm boy. I've read it many more times down through the years. That long list of grievances against the King of England always lost me. It was foreign to my sphere of knowledge. It read like some sort of legal document: a lot of verbiage on the peripheral of my comprehension.

In recent years, I have come to understand that, apart from the list of reasons for declaring independence from the King, that document contains powerful and beautiful language: ...all men are created equal... unalienable rights... Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... precious words, indeed!

The signers concluded with another powerful statement; we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Get that? Our sacred honor! To these men, their honor... their integrity, their honesty, their truthfulness, were sacred! How many of us today believe that?

In a business transaction where you suddenly discover a hidden fact, or a mistake, that would unfairly benefit you - would you consider it your sacred obligation to point out the error? You are walking down the street and find a billfold containing cash and other items, would you consider it your sacred obligation to restore it to its owner?

I once had a business partner who often repeated the slogan "There is no part time honesty!" Think about that. You are not an honest man because you are honest 99% of the time. One dishonest action, makes you a dishonest man.

My Dad used to say, "If a man doesn't have his word, what does he have?"

It doesn't matter how much money you have, how big your house, how luxurious your automobile... you could lose all those things in the blink of an eye. Your honor is your truly valuable possession, because no one can take that from you. It is yours alone, to keep or lose. Keep it sacred!