Conscience

I believe in handshakes. There is something special about being able to look a person in the eye and know that you don’t have anything to hide. It is perhaps the most empowering feeling in the world. It doesn’t matter how well the person knows you, or how well you know them, because you know that you stand with a clear conscience. When two people can walk away with that same feeling, things just happen. Trust, cooperation, and understanding can develop in remarkable and unforeseen ways. When you can lay all your cards on the table and put your name on the line, people can tell. There is a marvelous, ingenious component within every human heart that has the potential to recognize anything and everything good. When you are who you say you are that little spark of light lets someone know in their deepest self that they can trust you.
The opposite is also true. When there is no truth, there is no light. Liars usually have to do a lot of talking. They try to make up for and drown out the objections of that ember of truth inside of us all. They have to think about every word, every gesture, the tone of their voice, and the clothes they wear. The good thing about being forthright is that all you have to worry about is telling the truth.
Shakespeare once wrote:
What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
Authors such as Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott refer to the medieval practice of settling a criminal accusation through an armed combat. According to the laws of chivalry, if there was no evidence in a case and it came down to the word of one man against another the most honorable way to settle the affair was to allow the accuser and the accused to fight until one either admitted his fault or was slain. They usually tilted lances against one another, and if both survived the encounter they would then fight hand to hand. Before the contest began both were made to stand before the people and swear by all that was holy to them that their cause was true, both blessing and cursing themselves. Asking that if they were in the right that they might be given the strength to win, and that if they had lied that they might fall before their foe.
That is the power of conscience. It is what makes you smile when you say, “I hope you have a good day” and really mean it. Deep down we are all a handshake people. We all want to be able to trust the person standing beside us even if we do not know them. I am convinced that one of the best ways for us to achieve that lofty goal is to make sure that everyone standing beside us can trust us. Even if they do not know who we are, we do.