Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Trustworthiness is a moral excellence.

A Trustworthy person is dependable. Others know what to expect from her. She has integrity. She is steady, consistent; she lives what she believes and doesn’t change because it is convenient.

A Trustworthy person keeps other people’s secrets. People know their reputation is safe with him. They know he will not betray them or allow others to use their faults against them.

Trustworthy people know that a person’s reputation is a valuable, precious and fragile possession; that a reputation can be damaged in an instant and take a lifetime to restore. A Trustworthy person is careful with words and knows that a word spoken carelessly can hurt or maim.

When we talk about a Trustworthy person we are always tempted to say that she is consistent in her decisions. She does what she knows to be right. She doesn’t change her mind just because a decision becomes inconvenient or uncomfortable. On the other hand, a Trustworthy person can always be depended upon to do what is right, even if it means having to admit that she was wrong in the past. The key is that she does not keep changing her mind.

TRUSTWORTHINESS IN COMMUNITY

Trustworthiness, especially among leaders (or influencers), is important to true community. A community cannot survive long, or prosper, or be effective in its purpose if its members are suspicious of those with influence. A community with suspicious questioning at its heart will suffer “the death of a thousand cuts.”

It is good to know that those who guide a community through life can be depended upon to have a good understanding of, and to display Virtue in their own lives. It is also good to know that they have the best interests of individuals, and the community as a whole, at heart.

Equally as important to a community is Trustworthiness in those who are not leaders. If a community is to flourish, its members must be able to depend on one another to do what is right and fulfill their purpose and function within the community. All must be Virtuous.

Imagine a world made up of communities made up of Trustworthy people who trust one another.

What would that be like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Courage is a moral excellence.

A Courageous person has “more at the heart.” More what? More Integrity, more Faith, more Self-control and greater ability to persevere and withstand danger, fear or adversity.

Courage is bolstered by a sense of destiny and purpose. When things are difficult a tough person can muster the ability to continue, but when things are impossible, Courage that can sense a greater purpose and see more to be accomplished must take over.

Threat of death does not deter true Courage. The Courageous do not see death as the end or the ultimate loss but as a tool reserved for use by a Master in order to refine character. Valor can cause one to face death with personal strength (firmness of mind or spirit, resolve or personal bravery), but Courage places confidence in the hands of one whose purpose is greater and who is able to strengthen the heart.

Valor comes from within but true Courage is infused from without. Courage is bestowed when we face what is beyond us… what is impossible for us.

Courage is the “more” in the heart that breaks down pride, looks for help beyond itself and Humbly accept it.

COURAGE IN COMMUNITY

Courage is important to true community for Courage is contagious. The sense of greater purpose and destiny possessed by the Courageous will spill over onto all who are nearby.

A community must have those with Courage if it is to become greater; if it is to influence. Courage alone is not enough. The other Virtues must be present in a community if that community is to influence for good. We have seen communities devoid of Virtue influence for evil.

Imagine a world made up of communities made up of Courageous people who value one another and exercise the Virtues.

What would that be like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Integrity is a moral excellence.

Integrity comes from the same root as the word, “integer.” It means, “The quality or state of being whole or undivided.”

You can tell a person with Integrity – her thoughts, beliefs and actions “line up” – there is do division between them. He does not tell you one thing and do something completely different.

People with Integrity are not boring and predictable. When they tell you that they will do something, they get it done – they may do it in a way that is fun and creative, but they get it done. They are dependable. You can count on them to keep their word and not change their mind if something more appealing comes up.

A person with Integrity lives out his values – his values determine what he will and will not do and his deeds bring to him what he values. A person who values something highly will act in ways that honor those things and those things will be drawn to him.

INTEGRITY IN COMMUNITY

Integrity is important to true community but, it must be Integrity that values others. If a person with Integrity values himself too highly, he will not benefit the community.

POSITIVE: A person who values people above things will act in ways that honor people. She will use things to serve people.

NEGATIVE: A person who values things above people will act in ways that honor things. She will use people to serve things.

Imagine a community made up of people who value one another and exercise Integrity.

What would that be like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Honesty is a moral excellence.

Honesty is telling the truth… with grace. Honesty cannot stand alone – she must have the other Virtues as her companions otherwise she is destructive. Honesty must be tempered by the restraining power of Love, Joyfulness, Peace-making, Patience, etc.

Honesty that is not tempered is like a knife made of soft steel – it will server its master well until it comes up against something hard. Then, it becomes dull and useless. The person who is brutally honest will end up being simply brutal.

In order for Honesty to remain sharp and gracious, it must be tempered and honed.

Honesty does not manipulate people or circumstances by playing with the truth. Honesty reveals what is really there.

Honesty does not use truth as a club but as a light. The goal of Honesty is unity built around truth.

When it is necessary to correct others, Honesty tells the truth gently and provides both hope and comfort.

Imagine a community in which people exercise Honesty in their dealings with themselves and one another. People would stop accusing and start helping. They would stop blaming and start cooperating. They would stop feeling like a victim and take the initiative to heal. Most important, they would stop using one another and start serving.

What would that be like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Self-control is a moral excellence.
Human beings are creatures driven by appetites. We hunger for food, power, sex, comfort, security, meaning, purpose, justice, freedom and a host of other good things. We can end up spending our lives pursuing them. The desire for these things and how we go about satisfying those appetites define much of what we do and who we are.

Our passions constantly tempt us to chase one or more of these things to the exclusion of all other things. The price we are willing to pay to get what we hunger for is often high for us personally and for those we love. Sometimes, we would rather die than live without the things we hunger for. Often, once we’ve paid the price, we find that the thing we thought we could not live without does not satisfy like we thought. It is s not worth what we had to pay. When that happens, we live with regrets.

When we abandon the good of others (or even our selves) in order to chase the things that satisfy our appetites; when we abandon the other virtues in order to get what we want right now; when we become driven by our appetites we become self-centered – we become selfish.

Self-Control is the ability to overcome these desires and live according to what we know is right. The
Self-Controlled person defines life by Virtue rather than appetite.

The Self-Controlled person is in control of his appetites. He is able to live in a way that is good for himself and the people around him even when his appetites are screaming at him to get what he wants at any cost.

The Self-Controlled person knows that experiences and possessions do not define her. She is aware that she lives as part of a community and that her immediate desires do not necessarily translate into what is good for the community.

Self-Controlled people are able to choose whether they will serve themselves or their community. If they have other Virtues, that translates into choosing to exercise Virtue rather than pursue appetites.

Imagine a community in which people exercise Self-Control – not only would vice begin to disappear, but everything would begin to get better. People would stop taking the lazy way and start putting in the effort necessary to do the right thing. Our communities would get cleaner (people might put forth the effort to throw garbage in a garbage can). It might become a pleasure to drive in traffic (people might actually let the other guy go first). Those things are just the beginning.

What else could happen if people were Self-Controlled?

What would that look like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Gentleness is a moral excellence.

There are two components to Gentleness – strength and security.

Gentle people are strong. Their strength makes them able to correct those who err. They do not use their strength to overpower except to protect others. Instead, they gain confidence and diligence from their strength. While they correct others they also nurture them. Their correction is motivated by Love and a sincere desire to bring about what is best for others. Gentle people correct others to help them avoid bring trouble t their own lives. Gentle people are not arrogant, impatient or angry.

Gentle people are secure. Gentle people receive correction with the same level of Grace as they give correction. Their meekness makes them aware that no one is perfect. We can all learn from one another. We are better together than we can be apart. Gentle people depend on others and are dependable.

Imagine a community with a high percentage of Gentle people. Imagine a community made up of people who are both confident and nurturing – people who help one another and accept help from one another.

What would that look like?

I think I would like to live there. How about you?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that Conviction and Goodness are moral excellences.

Conviction is different from understanding. A person might understand the meaning of a particular moral concept without possessing that excellence - that person might understand what Patience is but not be a Patient person.

Conviction is different from belief. A person might believe that a particular idea is a moral excellence without possessing that excellence - that person might agree that Patience is an important moral excellence but still not be a Patient person.

A person of conviction is convinced. That person is convinced of both the meaning and the importance of moral excellence. That person knows that, if Patience is a Virtue, it is important to try to be Patient in every circumstance.

It is possible to understand the meaning of a moral excellence, believe it is important and be convinced of the value of it yet still not be able to practice it. The truly Good person is a living example of what it means to be moral. The Good (or morally excellent) person is not just Good occasionally, he is Good consistently.

Imagine a community in which people generally understood the meaning and value of Virtues such as Love, Joyfulness, Peacemaking, Patience – all the Virtues. Imagine that they were also convinced of the importance of living out those Virtues and actually lived consistent with their beliefs and convictions.

What would that look like?

I think I would like to live there. How about you?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that kindness is a moral excellence.

The virtue of some character traits, like kindness, only becomes obvious when the virtue is held up against the vice that characterizes the opposite trait. For example - the opposite of kindness is avarice: an inordinate desire for wealth.

Therefore Kindness can be seen as a proper relationship to wealth. A greedy person accumulates wealth beyond his or her own need – they get wealth so that they can have wealth and enjoy the benefits of controlling it. A Kind person accumulates wealth so that he or she can enjoy the benefits of meeting the needs of others.

Avarice can pertain to things other than money. The lust for ownership that overwhelms the needs of others can extend to power, influence, comfort, food, drink – just about anything that can be possessed can be possessed to the extent that owning it deprives someone else. Avarice is about the power to control. Unfortunately that control ends up affecting others negatively. Truly Kind people see their ownership of things as a chance to serve others and freely allow what they possess (beyond their own needs) to flow from them to the place of need.

What does it mean to live in a way that exemplifies the moral excellence of Kindness – to be a Kind person? First, it means we understand that controlling things does not add meaning or purpose to our lives. Our life is not measured by the things we own or control.

Second, we display Kindness when we give up control and release what we have so that it can help those who cannot help themselves.

A community made up of Kind people will be marked by reduced need. It will be made up of neighbors, local businessmen and women, and community leaders who don’t just look out for and care about one another but who give from their excess to meet the needs of the community.

What would that look like?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe there is a moral excellence that causes people to be peace-makers. When people say things like, “there goes a real peace-maker,” the person they are talking about possesses that moral excellence.

Peace really is the absence of conflict. The ancient Greeks had some ideas about that. They had a word for war (polemos) and a word for peace (eirene). But, people are not that simple and the ancient Greeks knew it.

When people are polarized, they have taken sides against one another –they feel hostility toward one another. It does not necessarily mean that they are fighting. It can lead to fighting but it doesn’t have to.

When the ancient Greeks spoke of peace, they were addressing those feelings of hostility. Eirene means to join together. The idea is that the feelings of hostility toward one another ends. It can be said that there is peace between North and South Korea because there is no fighting going on, but there are still troops amassed along both sides of that border. The feelings of hostility still exist. The same is true everywhere we look – countries, regions, states, provinces, counties, villages, neighborhoods, even families suffer from the effects that come from feelings of hostility. Blood may not be spilling, but there is hostility.

No wonder those who can bring about peace – true peace – are so precious to us.

What does it mean to live in a way that exemplifies the moral excellence of peace-making – to be a Peacemaker? Loving is the key to peace. What else can bring about the end of hostility? When we are loving, we begin to abandon our own desires in favor of others. If 2-billion, or 20 or just 2 people suddenly started caring more about what is good for each other rather than what they want most themselves, what would that look like? Peacemakers first put an end to the hostility in their own relationships then work to spread peace to others.

Peacemakers are not afraid of getting a bloody nose whey they try to get between two people and start to address the hostility.

A community made up of Peacemakers will be marked by forgiveness. People will chose not to hold a grudge. When someone feels as though they need to be paid back for a hurt they suffered, instead of hurting back, they will begin to set one another free from the demand of that debt.

A community made up of Peacemakers will be marked by unity and co-operation. People will choose to work toward a common goal, instead of compete for what they want.

A community made up of Peacemakers will be marked by good relationships. People will seek to discover what is best for each other and work together to achieve it.

What would that look like in your life?

Virtue – a particular moral excellence

I believe that joy is a moral excellence. I’m not talking about being a “bubbly” person. Joy is deeper. To some, the happiness of joyful people may seem unreasonable, but joyful people have good reason to be joyful. The source of their joy does not change because of their circumstances. Joyful people are “steady.”

I am convinced that joy comes from within. It is the result of being content with ourselves. It is especially evident in those who are first, loving. If we act lovingly toward others, we like ourselves better and are more likely to be joyful.

I am also convinced that joyfulness doesn’t come from but is affected by knowing we are loved. If you are loved – truly, deeply, faithfully, sacrificially loved, your life will tend to move toward joy. If you love someone, truly, deeply, faithfully, sacrificially love someone that person will tend to move toward joy. The joy may not come right away. It may take a long time for love to break through the hurts that are there, but the person who is loved and knows it, will be free to treat others lovingly, love themselves more and tend to move toward joy.

What does it mean to live in a way that exemplifies the moral excellence of joy – to be a joyful person? First, it means we act lovingly toward others: we become more joyful as we express our love for others in practical ways; when we sacrifice for others, treat them patiently, build them up instead of building ourselves up; when we rejoice with the victories others experience, forgive quickly, encourage the down-trodden by weeping with them in their grief or disappointment; when we give hope or help others to endure suffering we feel good about what we have become – we gain joy.

A community made up of joyful people, like one made up of loving people, will be marked by reduced suffering, neighbors who look out for and care about one another, families that have good relationships, neighbors who are not “at war” with one another. The neighborhood will be brighter, happier, more lovely. It will be a place people want to be.