Integrity – "…because you matter!"

Accurate Measuring, Authentic, Confidence, Faithfulness, Focus, Future, Grace, Identity, Integrity, Legacy, Perspective, Value, Worth

Daily Bread

I remember seeing this picture of an older man praying over his daily bread when I was just a kid. At about four or five years old, I wasn’t sure who it was in the picture, it might have been my grandpa, but my four-year-old mind wasn’t sure it could be. However, even then, there was enough pause and reflection to cause me to wonder.

Fifty-seven(ish) years later, I was able to acquire that picture. I probably could have bought it anywhere or anytime, but when it came time to sort my dad’s things, it was one of the things that I was drawn to. I don’t think he even had the childhood original, but that moment caught on that film mattered.

The other thing I was drawn to was his own personal bible. Two months ago, my dad died at ninety-three after a three-year decline into blindness. I got his bible before he died, back when my mom sorted through their stuff in preparation for downsizing.

I wanted the personal vibe of my dad’s private, devotional life. As far as I could tell, my dad wasn’t orthodox, even according to him.

He was, however, deeply devoted to his Lord and Saviour. He believed in a resurrected Christ who interacted daily with him through the always-present Holy Spirit.

I knew because I had watched him, and his bible reflected this reality with many personal insights written in it, underscored and emphasized in pen ink. Dad inculcated what he read into his daily life and did it regularly. That was my heritage. That is my blessing.

Attitude, Character, Integrity, New Path, Owning your stuff, Personal

The Encounter. It’s My Fault!

“It’s me. Sir, it’s my fault. There is no one else to blame. I did it. Did you hear me, sir? It’s my fault!”

These words pushed out of my mouth as I was being berated, at a very large volume, at a very close proximity, with coffee still on his breath, with many colourful words, on a very busy Vancouver street corner, with a whole lot of people looking on. He went up one side of me and down the other. I knew with ample awareness and bountiful description that we, I, had created a mess.

I had committed the unpardonable sin by not delivering, on time, an entire job site’s paycheques on payday morning. This was long before Direct Deposit; in fact, this one occurrence may well be the reason for Direct Deposit. You’re welcome.

Yah, I would have been mad at me too!

It was a simple mistake. No, it really was. I was supposed to deliver 711’s paycheques to their new location just under construction. The complicator? The job site was directly across the main intersection from the 711 store that was already there. I had delivered similar packages many times before. When I went to the store to give it to the person who’s name was on the parcel, the store attendant knew nothing of it and wouldn’t sign for it.

The simple solution was to deliver it to the correct address right across the street. But, who needs an address when you have the name like 711 directly on the package? So the next best solution was to take it back to the depot and let it be reprocessed from there. Had it been for something of lesser importance, that might have been the correct procedure, but not for this, and not for this day.

Then, to make matters worse, I finished my deliveries early, so I went for a leisurely lunch. My boss, who was almost unglued, rudely interrupted my solace when I got back to my truck. He required that I end my leisure immediately and deliver this package to the rightful owner, who would have had plenty of time to practice his communication skills. This was all done over the 2-way radio (before personal cell phones) with all my colleagues to hear.

So, 2.5 hours past the intended delivery time, the encounter.

Before this encounter, I had recently learned that when you make a mess, you have to own it. I didn’t realize then that I would be part of a practical exercise in this skill.

It absolutely worked. When the construction boss finally heard me, he immediately calmed and then lamely apologized for his overreaction. We were good, my company was saved, and I learned a LIFE Lesson with far-reaching applications.

When you screw-up, you have to own your stuff.

“So, the first step to getting free from conflict and staying free is for us to come out of denial and correctly process our lives. We need to live transparent lives by owning our stuff, our actions.” (Sovdi, Philip. Path Out: Eliminate the Swirl (Page 12). Kindle Edition.)https://philsovdi.com/book-offer/

Character, Inconsistency, Integrity, Worth

Everyone Else Is

What do you do when everyone else is doing it?

There is ample opportunity to cut corners, to cheat, to ‘score,’ to sell the flawed dressed up as the perfect, after all, everyone else is doing it, or are they?

I can hear my dad in my ears, “Well if everyone else was jumping off a bridge would you do it?”

The answer is supposed to be ‘no,’ but I’ve grown up in a culture that actually jumps off bridges and pays someone for the opportunity. So the point gets clouded and indistinct. I see a culture today where there is a lot of ‘fuzz’ and not enough clarity.

Where are the Daniel’s of our day, the three Hebrew children? Where are the uncompromising, the integral, the honest if you will?

When it seems not to matter when no one appears to be looking, where are the men and women who play it straight?

Do you know anyone like that?

Do your friends?

You Don’t Have To Live; You Get To!