Why I am Scarborough with Integrity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Why I am Scarborough with Integrity

    My family name is of British ancestry. It comes out of Scarborough, England, which is north of London on the same coast. There is a Scarborough castle. The migration I am tracing now indicates our ancestors started here in VA, migrated to Edgecombe County NC, and moved further south to the Madison County GA area from whence my father came.

    The British meaning of the word is "scar" and "borough." A "borough" is a small settlement. That would all mean "people from a town led by a man with a prominent scar." Such a wound could have been inflicted in battle. I hope it was a righteous battle for integrity over being caught with the wrong man's wife in bed! Whatever the reason for the scar, it is my choice as to which side of the human equation I choose---honesty---or corruption and pretend.

    No human is "perfect." Each of us who is honest would say, "I made some mistakes, but learned from them." Early on as a child, I had a neighbor boy who was a bully. I decided to get even by stealing a sprinkler from his yard. I proudly brought it home and hooked it up to water our yard. My dad came home and asked me, "Where did that come from?" I told him I stole it to get even and he should be proud of me." He DID NOT BUY THAT EXPLAINATION AT ALL!

    He made me return it and apologize for stealing it. I had to do it face-to-face with the mother of that boy. I was trembling when I did it, but she thanked me for my honesty. My father used his belt to my "backside nerve that runs directly to the center of the child's brain." He informed me before the punishment that I did the right thing, but the wrong thing deserved his correction. He didn't lie to me saying, "This is going to hurt me more than it does you." It hurt like HELL!!! I promised myself that I would never use such punishment on my child --- if I lived to have such.

    God (or life, if you prefer) always gets even with us through our children.

    Those parents who ignore the corrupt activities of the children live to regret it. Any parent who treats their children with favoritism creates jealousy and trouble in the next generation. The Bible is replete with stories of such favoritism and corruption which went unpunished or uncorrected.

    David, for example, fell in lust with Bathsheba. He had her husband killed in battle to cover the child growing from him inside Bathsheba --- BUT God still used him as one of Israel's greatest Kings. When his favorite son, Absolon, led a rebellion against his father the loyal subjects killed him. King David wept and went to his room in the anguish of "wishing for God to have taken him over his son." He was not pleased with the "get even" tactics of his men. David learned a lesson on INTEGRITY none of the 10 Commandments could teach. He violated 2 of them and paid the price in spades.

    It is what I call "The School of Hard Knocks." The colors of that school are black-and-blue. Its graduation certificate is written in blood and smeared with tears. We should all learn lessons from those who failed before us. Otherwise, history repeats itself --- and the evil and selfish side of man could cause horrors from our foolishness.

    Adolph Hitler is a modern example of such. Stalin and Lenin used death and concentration camps along with Hitler to "bring about a perfect nation." It might have been quicker than normal democratic struggles, but the horror was hardly worth the change, in my view. Both WWII and I were the result of Imperial designs by nations.

    Do the righteous and good people always win?

    The sad answer is "seldom." The reason is that the mob wanting to stone and lynch is easy to form and activate. Those wanting to do better with civility to one another "have a hard row to hoe," as the farmer says. It is so much easier to be a "fermenter of discord" than to be an "advocate for honest compromise in the best interests of all concerned."

    Let me give you a final example of my attempt to be helpful and mediate a tough issue = the now closed hospital at Belhaven. It is a classic battle of Corporate Medical Care (Vidant) vs. A money-losing small operation in an impoverished part of Eastern NC.

    I have been there at a meeting. I spoke of the tragedy of a Non-Profit Tax-Exempt (501[c]3) entity being highly profitable and running from an acquisition with red ink attached to it. The people of Belhaven were rejoicing with such a statement. I fully stand by it! Then I went to work behind the scenes trying to bring about some resolution. Some of those in Belhaven now hate me because I dared to talk with Vidant Officials for their side of the story. In some ways they mean well, but have royally run over a small hospital given to them in trust and hope.

    This situation is now in the hands of lawyers and a NC Superior Court Judge trying to be fair with all concerned. Vidant does not want to lose and be embarrassed. Some of the things associated with Belhaven ownership are not as ethical as they might be either. The worst factor is the hate and rumors tearing Belhaven citizens apart.

    It is filling them with hate --- if anyone disagrees with the mob. The Beaufort County Commissioners hope it goes away as with the jail/law enforcement center issue. 2 major controversies are more than anyone here wants. By and large we have a friendly county with too much hate on the surface with major issues, in my view. The worst result is we now have NO MEDICAL INTENSIVE CARE closer than a long drive to Greenville. The "golden hour" has been lost by 2 people thus far. More will follow.

    In this political year and a busted economy slowly recovering, we could use a dose of the "best side of Scarborough." My ancestors left England for an opportunity to do better for themselves. It was a great adventure in courage and testing of INTEGRITY. I hope none of them directly took lands and resources from Native Americans. Even if they had no direct part, it happened over Greed and Arrogance for the early residents of America. I just can't sit on my hands and watch hate and arrogance grind this county into splinters of hate.

    I hope you might feel the same way --- and become "Makers of Peace." We can't do such without God's help is "for certain." God does not "bless a mess." We can always do better and learn from our errors of the past. When old folks have not learned much, it is impossible to teach it to the next generation.

    They learn from our example --- rather than any laws or tax codes we pass.
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