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For years, the above scripture has been displayed on my desk. It’s a meaningful reminder of what to aim for in life. Perhaps that is why the act of slander is such a grievous offense, for it has the potential of altering one’s reputation attached to their name. Today, though, as I read Proverbs 22:1, and with America’s birthday approaching, I imagined that fateful day in 1776. A sweltering summer. A small room in Philadelphia where men made a choice that could cost them everything. These men were farmers, lawyers, merchants, and preachers. Some were wealthy. Some were scraping by. However, they all held one thing sacred—their name—their word, their honor, and their legacy. When these men put pen to parchment, they weren’t just declaring war on the mightiest empire in the world. They were signing away their security, their families’ safety, and any chance of retreat. The Crown called it treason, punishable by death. John Hancock made his signature so very large, legend says, that King George would have no problem in reading it. I imagine that hot room, boiling over not just with July heat, but the pounding of their racing hearts. I can envision sentries guarding doors, a few windows thrown open to the heavy summer air, and one by one, these men stepped forward, dipped quill into freedom’s ink, and wrote their name on a document that might hang them. No backup plan. No second draft. Just this: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” Sacred honor….. A term that feels antiquated nowadays, like a word pressed into a century old library book. But to those men, honor was as real as any musket or cannonball. It was the measure of a man, even when no one was watching.
Today, we live in a time when a name can be bought, sold, or reinvented in a click. Reputations are traded for likes and followers. Influence is worshiped like an idol. However, the truth remains: our names—our choices when no one is watching, and sometimes, when everyone is, carry a weight that money, power, and status can never buy.
I believe for these men, they practiced Proverbs 22:1. They knew that their name and all it stood for would outlive their possessions. They believed that their children, and their children’s children, would inherit something in addition to their historic actions that July day. They would inherit a story of courage and conviction. Some of these men lost everything. Some died penniless. Some buried children during the long, brutal fight for liberty. There were days when the cause looked like a fool’s errand — when it would have been easy to slip away into the night and beg the King’s pardon. But they didn’t. Their honor and noble cause mattered as boldly as their signed names. For it was one and the same.
I often reflect on when my children were younger, sitting in the bed of our old pickup truck to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. Upturned faces, wondrous expressions and spontaneous clapping as our hearts swelled with pride for our country. To their chagrin, beforehand, I’d often delve deeper in adult-like talks of integrity and honor, and strength to fight for what is true and just.
Later in adulthood, they told me that in positive ways--I was the “most consistent person they knew.” They had watched me through the years even when I wasn’t aware. I remember feeling a sense of relief that all the worries I had about parenting, all the books I’d read, well, nothing came even close to being so helpful as just me being me—acting, thinking, succeeding and sometimes failing, but continuing with noble intent every day. On this upcoming 249th Independence Day, may the fireworks remind us not only of freedom won long ago, but of the quiet, daily choice to live with integrity, honor, and conviction. May the sacrifices of our founding fathers teach us that liberty is not just won once but kept alive by the choices we make every day. After all, a good name is more than just ink on a page. It’s inscribed in the promises we keep, the words we honor, the apologies we make, and the legacy we permanently leave etched behind. It may just be the greatest treasure we’ll ever have; one we build daily and protect fiercely. So may we build it wisely……. guard it well……and never forget the power of….
A Good Name.
~Karina Garrison
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