Where does integrity come from?

I didn’t notice until after I sat down to eat my lunch that the cafeteria cashier had given me extra change. When I brought it back to her, she was a little surprised. After all, it was only a few cents.

Flagrant lapses of integrity often dominate the news, but that doesn’t mean integrity has gone out of style. Far from it. I don’t think my instinct at that moment was at all exceptional. Instances of honesty and fairness play out over and over again in the everyday lives of people all over the globe.

So why was returning a few cents so important to me? Well, for one thing, I was pretty sure the cashier would be held accountable for the shortfall in her register. More than that, though, it was simply the right thing to do. And it was a matter of being true to a universal source of integrity that connects all people beneficially.

I’ve come to realize that the desire to do what’s right, the discernment to know what’s right, and the ability to follow through with honorable actions flow from the connection we all have with our common creator, the divine Principle of the universe, called God. In spite of incidents pointing to the contrary, integrity is actually built into the true nature of everyone as God’s child. This stems from the incorruptible integrity of God – as revealed in the Bible and explained in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy.

The Bible asks, “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” (James 3:11). The answer, of course, is no. God’s nature is wholly uniform, entirely good, without a single taint of evil. God is wholly loving – is Love itself. God is undeviating, complete Truth. And we are God’s spiritual, whole, and flawless creation. It’s from this reliable, unchanging Principle that we derive the wisdom and ability to live honorable, healthy, and prosperous lives.

How do you gain insights into this inviolable integrity? Through prayer and spiritual study. In her “Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” Mrs. Eddy included this commentary on integrity: “The upright man is guided by a fixed Principle, which destines him to do nothing but what is honorable, and to abhor whatever is base or unworthy; hence we find him ever the same, – at all times the trusty friend, the affectionate relative, the conscientious man of business, the pious worker, the public-spirited citizen” (p. 147). I like to think of integrity as keeping my thoughts and actions true to God and true to my and everyone’s true nature as God’s child.

My friend Chuck, a fellow Christian Scientist, tries to operate his small/medium-sized business on the basis of this integrity. He’s found that doing this protects the company from unprincipled practices, even as it prospers the business.

One time, a sticky situation arose involving his company’s European subsidiary. As Chuck explained the situation to me, “We were strongly advised that we should ... shelter income from the taxing authorities. We were told that ‘everyone does it’ and that ‘the governments were so corrupt and wasteful’ that doing so was justified.... We paused to consider our company’s mission-centered approach ... being in accord with that fixed Principle that destines it to do only those things that are honorable, and which will tend to raise the standard of business ethics in the community....

“We rejected the counsel.... In the end, the business and the investors could go forward prosperously without ... abandoning our values.”

I’ve found that in proportion as a person practices Principle-based integrity in his or her life, it not only elevates character, but has a positive effect on mental and physical health. That’s a strong incentive to practice integrity – and to look to the life and teachings of Christ Jesus for guidance.

Jesus fully embodied the integrity of divine Principle. When Zacchaeus, who had obtained great wealth as an unscrupulous tax collector for the Roman government, heard that Jesus was coming to town, he went out and climbed a tree in order to catch a glimpse of him. When Jesus saw him, he said, “Come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house” (Luke 19:5).

What Zacchaeus found when Jesus entered his house was that the Christ – the living spirit of Principle-based integrity Jesus fully expressed – entered his heart and mind as well. He immediately vowed to give half of his material wealth to the poor and to restore to those he had cheated four times what he had taken.

The spirit of integrity Jesus embodied is already rooted within every person in every culture. It flows from our ever-present, incorruptible, and inexhaustible source – divine Principle. It only needs to be allowed to spring up in each of us.

Adapted from an article published in the April 4, 2005, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.

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