The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. (Proverbs 11:3)
The times they are a changing! Back in my growing-up days, I remember there being concern about people doing things to the trick-or-treat candy they were handing out, like putting razor blades in apples. Parents were counseled to inspect their children’s goodies when the night’s activities were over to make sure the collected candy and fruit items had not been tampered with.
But things are different now. Instead of being concerned about the treats, the shift has now gone to the treaters. The new name “porch pirates” has filtered into trick-or-treaters. Now we have the threat (t-h-reat, if you will) of candy being grabbed off porches of homes whose residents have to take care of something else in the house for a moment, or who were trusting enough to leave the bowl of candy on the front porch for trick-or-treaters to help themselves. “Trusting that people will do the right thing” has become a positive habit with bad results.
Video shows an adult male (he looks to be about 40) waking up at a house and emptying the large bowl of candy into his pillowcase. Meanwhile, two other adults are waiting in the car that pulls up along the curb, then makes a speedy getaway.
That was not an isolated example. Ring cameras are the new Candid Camera (Showing my age with that reference!). Video after video hit the internet of a new, lower level of crime: Adults and adolescents stealing candy meant for kids.
Integrity has almost become as rare as a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card. One example of integrity that we experienced on Trick-or-Treat night, when we weren’t home for 30 minutes, was one boy who was so appreciative of our offer to take two or three pieces of candy that he put some of his own candy in our bowl. That was generosity, which is often an ingredient in integrity. In fact, integrity really shows in what you do when no one is watching.
Integrity isn’t perfection. It isn’t the avoidance of temptation. It isn’t a superhero trait. In most of our daily decisions, integrity is not involved in the outcome. But there are times when it rises to the surface and either gets pushed back down or is victorious in the moment. It can be as simple as taking what is rightfully not yours from a candy bowl, or as complex as the enormous, intense peer pressure of a group to pick up a stone and hurl it at the innocent.
Wouldn’t it be something if we had another day that is known for, just putting a name to it, “give and go.” Kind of a way for kids to leave a gift in an empty bowl on a front porch as a way of saying thank you. Oh, wait…I guess we do have that. We call it Thanksgiving.
