Twenty-one years ago I made a choice. At the time it seemed so simple and insignificant. I sat there with three questions as I pondered the “opportunity”: Who would know? Who would care? And the cost – what cost? Little did I know at the time that every, literally every, choice has spiritual consequences. That is a universal law – a spiritual law – that governs us all … just like gravity.
Anyone who knew me, at the time, would have said that I was basically an honest and ethical person. I was respected in my community, a community and civic leader, active in my church, serving as music director. No one, not even I, would have suspected that ten years later that I would be an inmate in Federal Prison.
Have you ever found yourself over-extended? I did and I admit that I liked that lifestyle. The only problem was my bank account couldn’t support that lifestyle. This became the groundwork for the seed to be planted.
Throughout our lives, in fact many times during our lives, we are faced with temptations. It is not the temptation that’s the issue; it’s how we respond to it that defines us. In my case, I was more concerned with maintaining the illusion of success than I was with my own honesty and integrity.
After one Christmas, some twenty years ago, I received a call from my local banker, who said, “Chuck, we noticed that you’re behind in your house payment. Is their a problem?” Now, being a successful tax partner in a CPA firm, I certainly did not want to appear to be incapable of managing my own money. So, of course, I suggested that his records were wrong and asked him to check again. The reality was, however, I was behind.
I had a problem. I needed money! Then, it hit me. I was the trustee of a trust. Why not borrow money from the trust? So, I put on my trustee hat. I looked at myself and said, “Don’t you need to borrow some money?” And as I took my trustee hat off, I replied, “Why, yes I do.” And with that little interchange, I stole money from the trust and changed my life forever. I planted the seed into the groundwork I laid.
Have you ever had one of those moments in your life, when you wish you could just rewind the tape? You wish you could just do it over? That was one of those moments. The fact is, when you make an unethical choice, you have to accept the consequences. By my choice, I set the consequence in motion.
Therefore, I called the banker back, and apologizing profusely said, “My wife pays the bills. Considering this was our first Christmas with our new son, she must’ve just overlooked the house payment. I’ll make sure you receive it today.” Of course, I took the stolen money and made the payment.
Three months later, I paid back the trust. I convinced myself that it was just a loan. Unfortunately, I found out it was easy. Nobody was the wiser. It was easy to take money, in order to maintain the illusion. Thus, over the next several years, I took more.
Ten years later I found myself an inmate in Federal prison. I was reaping the consequences of the unethical choices I made. From that first experience, I set into motion an outcome that would define my life forever. The following is an excerpt from my prison memoirs. Perhaps it can give you a glimpse of the reality of consequences one might face.
October 7, 1995. It’s Saturday morning and I just had my first prison visit. As I walked out of the visitation room, several of the inmates were standing outside near the make shift barbershop. Buck was standing there, so I stopped. From that vantage point, inmates can see their loved ones leave.
I can’t begin to describe how moving this experience was. Loved ones waving to the inmates, children hollering – “I love you Daddy,” inmates waving in return. Buck said this was the saddest time for him. He saw his family leave, as I saw you leave. I choked back tears then, but feel the depth of emotion now.
As I write this now, I would prefer to be away from here. How precious is freedom and how much we take it for granted. There is wonderful humanity here — truly fine people, who made the wrong choice. Still, by the grace of God, I am protected. I have clothing, shelter and food.
We all seem to keep up this tough façade — I guess it’s a form of protection. But deep down, there’s a level of sadness. Many have it worse than me. For now, I need to get outside. I know some changes are taking place. And yet I feel I have a long way to go.
Now, 2007 some twenty years after the crime and eleven years since I’ve seen the inside of a prison, I know the law of reaping and sowing in greater detail. I sowed the wrong seeds and reaped, what most would describe as, a negative harvest. Yet, over time I have seen the law applied in more positive ways than I can imagine.
Today I am planting good seeds. Through accepting responsibility and living an ethical life, I have been given a second chance. I am blessed to serve as a Sales Executive in a Publicly Traded Company; teaching many people how to improve their lives through success in sales. Likewise, through my efforts in speaking, various groups allow me to share my direct ethics experiences of reaping and sowing – therefore, providing a framework for their personal growth.
We all will eventually reap what we sow – that is a spiritual truth. The question is will we enjoy the consequences of our choices? And believe me, there are always consequences to every choice we make.
Chuck openly shares the ethical experiences of his life through his ethics keynote address: Success Beyond Illusion or Ethics: Negative Consequences – Positive Results. For information on how Chuck can speak to your organization and share his experiences visit Chuck Gallagher’s presentations web page.
