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 Integrity - sermon, by Lyzea

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PostSubject: Integrity - sermon, by Lyzea   Integrity - sermon, by Lyzea EmptySun Jul 16, 2017 4:11 pm

Posted to the holy room board Mar 14th, 2016

Many people have the mistaken belief that integrity simply means telling the
truth and doing good things. However, integrity means different things for
different people, and the meaning is dependent on the type of life each person
lives. For a follower of Dahkoar, integrity would likely mean following
Dahkoar's tenets, doing things that others might find abhorrent, but in their
and Dahkoar's eyes, glorifies his name. For a follower of Ateraan, integrity
would mean doing all that they can to ensure Ateraan's health and life,
regardless of how the population feels about those decisions or actions. For a
healer, integrity would mean doing no harm, maintaining their supplies and
offering their services to those in need. These are merely simple examples, and
do not speak to the true breadth of what integrity means. They are just to give
you an idea of how integrity can differ between groups and individuals.

Having integrity is a choice. It is a quality each one of us can decide to
have. For some, it is an unconscious choice; they do not not feel they are
making a choice. They feel as if it is simply a part of who they are. For
others, building integrity can be a difficult task to accomplish; once they
gain integrity, they must constantly work to maintain it. For both sets of
people, though, integrity is something that can be lost in the blink of an eye,
or the second it takes to make a rash decision.

For those who believe in the Goddess and strive to follow Her way, integrity
does mean what most people assume it means. We are to be compassionate and
forgiving. We should not lie. We should not deceive. We should be gracious and
charitable. These are all things that She expects of each of Her followers, so
that we might spread Her gospel and actually be listened to while doing it.

This is why I wished to speak on integrity this evening; to discuss why it is
important, especially to the congregation of Waylumi. We would be those things
I said before, kind and forgiving, even if it were not our duty to spread Her
teachings, because that is how She inspires us to be. However, it -is- our duty
to educate the masses as to Her gospel, therefore we -must- 'walk the walk', as
it were. This is where integrity comes into play.

If the clergy of the Lady merely spoke the words the tenets lay out; if we were
to only preach about love and grace, we would be able to reach only a handful
of people and turn them to Her infallible truth. But it would not be enough. It
is through our actions, combined with our words, that we are able to show the
public Waylumi's Light. It is through our actions, combined with our words,
that we are able to turn many to Her way; by showing them what it means to walk
upon Her narrow path, and showing them the blessings we are given in return.

Even worse, if we were to say the right words, but our actions were not in line
with those tenets, we would be hypocrites. Integrity is the opposition to
hypocrisy. If a cleric of the Goddess gave a sermon on love and compassion, and
then murdered someone in cold blood soon after, they would be a swindler. They
would not be following Her truth, and they would be deceiving those they were
attempting to teach. Many say that actions speak louder than words, and this is
a perfect analogy to integrity. Our actions show our true beliefs.

It is so incredibly easy to say you believe something, to portray yourself a
certain way. It is so much harder to actually prove that through conduct. We
are all mortal and we all make mistakes. Many people remember those mistakes
and throw them back in our faces. Many will refuse to listen to us, because of
those mistakes. This is another reason integrity is so important. If we
consistently show, through our behaviour, that we believe and follow Her
teachings, we have a buffer for when we make a mistake. It is easy to believe
that someone who stumbles so frequently is a fraud. It is harder to point at
someone who regularly shows through their actions that they follow Waylumi's
teachings, who unfortunately took a misstep, and say they are a charlatan.

This does not mean we must only act with integrity when we have eyes upon us.
The Goddess sees everything. We must strive to show Her that we believe Her
truth, even when we are alone. It is not acceptable for us to murder because no
one sees it. It is not acceptable to deceive because we think no one will know.
The Bright Lady will know, and She is our final judge.

The followers of Waylumi have a plethora of ways to build and maintain their
integrity. Strict adherence to the tenets is obviously the best way. We can be
charitable and give to those in need. Many of us already do this, by providing
arms and armour for immigrants and recently fallen. By rushing to the Temple
when someone is resurrected by Her grace, to heal them and offer them guidance
and assistance. We can be compassionate by offering counsel to those suffering
life's troubles, offering a kind word and a smile to a stranger. We can forgive
those who have wronged us, even if it is painful to do. We can make it a point
to always tell the truth, even if the truth isn't what our peers want to hear,
or if it is difficult to do. We can ensure that we keep the Darkness out of our
lives, never letting it grow close to polluting our way of thinking.

Many of the things that we of Waylumi can do to build and maintain our
integrity are things undevoted can do as well. Most would agree that the things
we do are good and pure. I urge you all, whether you follow Waylumi or not, to
act with integrity in everything you do, even if you follow Ateraan, or no
deity at all. Look inside yourself and decide what qualities you want to
inspire in others, and manifest them in yourself, if you have not done so
already.
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