Book Review: "Integrity"

Integrity is an excellent, thought provoking book on a subject of great importance. Often, we don't realize the importance of living lives of integrity. Dr. Cloud challenges us to think about integrity in three different areas: Competencies (the things we do), Relationships (our interactions with people), and character (who we are).

Integrity, Cloud, Henry, Harper Collins, New York, N.Y., 2006

An illustration that stuck with me is what he calls the Concept of the Wake. Like a boat, a person leaves a wake behind them for all to see. On one side of the wake is the competencies (this is the task side of our life); the other side is the relationships side. The wake is the results of our tasks and our relationships and it does not lie. Dr. Cloud suggests that problems are rarely caused by the task side. This is why we should focus on becoming persons of integrity in our relationships. This is where our character comes in.

Dr. Cloud focuses on different areas of character building. One area is the importance and ability to connect authentically with people. He spends three chapters giving some practical ways to do this. He reminds us that the biggest trust killer of all is invalidation, which is communicated by poor listening, interruptions, etc…

Another area of focus is the ability to see the truth, to face reality. We must pursue truth aggressively and honestly about the external world, ourselves, and about others. Lack of reality creates an inaccurate map for us to live our lives by. Unfortunately, many people fool themselves by refusing to look at reality.

Dr. Cloud also focused on how character embraces problems. Here’s a quote, “Nothing good is going to happen if you can’t deal with the bad things that are going to happen.” He spends some time talking about the need for those with character to have a desire for growth. This requires energy, which is the fuel; and a template, which is the set of principles that shape the direction of growth.

Overall, this is an excellent read and resource for personal growth. Most of the thoughts were not knew, yet served as a reminder that we must stay focused on the things to will make us men and women of integrity.

Ron Aguilera
www.santarosasda.org

Where Are You?

“Where are you?”

God calls Adam after his fateful choice in the garden. Not long before, God and human beings had walked and talked together as friends. Suddenly, a rupture (a chasm) opened between the visible world of Eden and the invisible world of God. Separation was not God’s plan. For thousands of years, people accepted the fact that there were two worlds, the visible and the invisible. They lived life in the visible world of trees, mountains, and rivers, while acknowledging an unseen world that was more powerful and significant. Whatever could not be explained was credited to God, to this unseen, invisible world.
It is only in the last few centuries, as science and the enlightenment has spread, that belief in the unseen has faded. But, that does not make it any less true today than it was when Adam and Eve walked the Earth. Yet today, many perceive only one world, here and now, and assumes it is rational people that make all the good things happen, and that at death, existence ends and there is no God to hold us accountable.
I invite you to look at the cross and its purpose, to remember that separation was not part of God’s plan, and that the cross was the solution to this separation. When Jesus was on this earth, he rejected the one world outlook on life. “What good is it for man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) In other words, there is more than this one world.
In Russia, in the days of Stalin, Kindergarten teachers would tell the children in their classes to close their eyes and to pray to God for a bag of candy. None appeared, “Now pray to Stalin,” they would urge. As children prayed, the teachers would place bags of candy on their desks. “Prayer never gets you anything,” the teachers would announce. Trust Stalin, trust your leaders, trust what you can see for your needs. The result is evident…60 million people died at the hand of their own government, ½ of the males in the 20th century died of unnatural causes, the economy collapsed of its own incompetence…even today, visitors complain about the lack of smiles, the rudeness, and the amount of alcohol consumed.
In this country, we also struggle with this one world view….this is an effect from the separation. The cross is the solution…John 3:16, 17, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.