Get Goodness: Virtue is the Power to Do Good

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Get Goodness Virtue Is the Power to Do Good

Michael Hickey

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA,® INC.

Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK

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Copyright © 2011 by University Press of America,® Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 UPA Acquisitions Department (301) 459-3366 Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America British Library Cataloging in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Control Number: 2011920794 ISBN: 978-0-7618-5457-9 (paperback : alk. paper) eISBN: 978-0-7618-5458-6

™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum

requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992

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This book is dedicated to the love of my life and bride of 45 years, Terri; to our four children Ed, Dave, Liz, and Mary-Ellen, and my granddaughter, Katrina. Each one of them has blessed my life with much happiness. In good times and bad, they each have enabled me to say every day, “life is good!”

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Faith Enfolds Reason Upholds Understanding Beholds Virtue Extols ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2007 by All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Insert CIP data ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

Preface

ix

1

Virtue

1

2

Essence—Virtue “Is”

7

3

Power—Virtue Is the “Power”

11

4

Freedom—Virtue Is the Power “To Do”

14

5

Goodness—Virtue Is the Power To Do “Good” Happiness—Life Is Good! Adversity—Is Adversity Good? Fortune—Good Luck? Bad Luck? Providence—It’s All Good!

18 20 21 23 25

6

A

29

Acceptance

29

C Compassion Confidence Consciousness Courage Courtesy Creativity Curiosity

33 33 35 37 40 42 43 45

7

v

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vi

Contents

8

D Discipline Discretion

51 51 53

9

E Empathy Enthusiasm

56 56 58

10

F Faith Flexibility Forgiveness Friendliness

61 61 64 65 67

11

G Generosity Gentleness Gratitude

72 72 73 75

12

H Holiness Honesty Honor Hope Hospitality Humility Humor

79 79 81 83 85 88 89 92

13

I Idealism Imagination Integrity

99 99 101 103

14

J Justice

107 107

15

K Kindness

110 110

16

L Love Loyalty

113 113 115

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Contents

vii

17

M Mercy

119 119

18

O Obedience Openness

123 123 125

19

P Patience Peacefulness Perseverance Pride Prudence

128 128 130 132 133 136

20

R Reliability

141 141

21

S Silence Simplicity

144 144 146

22

T Temperance Tolerance Truthfulness

150 150 151 153

Index

159

About the Author

167

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Preface

This book looks at virtue as “the power to do good” from the theological, philosophical, and poetic perspective. From a theological perspective: Long ago, Anselm defined theology as “faith seeking understanding,”1 a definition which has endured to the present day. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to try to understand virtue or goodness without looking through some lens of faith. This would be the case even if one’s faith had no religious affiliation; certain beliefs about virtue and goodness would precede trying to understand them. In my case, I happen to be a Catholic Christian, both by birth and by choice. My theological formation has been within the Jesuit tradition, having been educated at Weston Jesuit, a Boston College theological school and the Jesuit seminary for the East Coast. Get Goodness was written, in part, because my own faith was seeking understanding. Second, this book will look at virtue and goodness from a philosophical perspective because the word “philosophy” (from the Greek philos + sophia) means ”love of wisdom.”2 The love of wisdom produces the Cardinal Virtue of prudence—a practical wisdom that has been called “the rudder virtue” pivotal to understanding all the other virtues.3 In fact, no moral virtue can be attained without prudence. It is critically important, then, for one to be a philosopher in the true sense of the word one must become a “lover of wisdom.” As we will find in this book, the virtue of love has been understood by most theologians and philosophers before me to be the essence of each and every virtue. Therefore, we must first love wisdom before we are able to practically discern, distinguish, deliberate and decide prudently in any effort to understand how virtue is the power to do good. Both theology and philosophy utilize thought as the faculty of saying what is possible, logical, and reasonable. Love must have primacy over knowledge.4 ix

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x

Preface

Third, this book will be suffused with poetry. But, why allow poetry to encroach on the sacred domains of theology and philosophy? Because poetry is a language that goes beyond logic, thought, and reason. It can speak to us “from deep to deep” (Psalm 42:7). It is the language of the spirit and the language of human life, love, observation, and experience. In this sense, poetry can be a wisdom language. Any poem is an attempt to try to understand the experience of the world and the universe around us in spiritual terms. To write about virtue as “the power to do good,” we must speak about goodness, which is something that some of the greatest minds of all time, including Aristotle and Aquinas, had great difficulty in defining and expressing.5 Only in God are essence and existence the same; God alone ‘is’ good.6 The implication is that when we limited human beings write about goodness, we are imperfectly trying to describe a mystical reality which transcends us. We can only orient ourselves as best we can to that goodness. Sometimes the language of poetry allows us to come closer to that reality than the prosaic language of theology and philosophy will allow. Aristotle, for example, wrote a whole philosophy about virtue (see his Ethics) and a whole philosophy about poetry (see his Poetics). Thomas Aquinas wrote a whole theology about virtue (see his Summa Theologica). Yet as far as we know, neither one of them ever composed a poem about virtue or used poetry as a language to communicate about goodness. Poets attempt to accomplish through verse what painters intend to convey with lines, brushstrokes and color. Any poem is a rainbow of color. Each of us sees a different rainbow because of how we are positioned in relation to the rainbow’s spectrum of color. The meaning of poetry often transcends the words alone; sometimes the meanings don’t emerge right away, but later as we’ve had time to think the poem over. I hope my lines of poetry will allow me to express myself in ways that I couldn’t find in the prosaic words of either theology or philosophy. The opening chapters of this book will introduce virtue and goodness. After that it will hone in on forty-seven different virtues. The list of virtues in the book is not meant to be exhaustive. You will find that many virtues appear under different names than those to which you might be accustomed. For example, meekness is what I call humility and mildness is what I call gentleness. Self-control and moderation are certainly virtuous; they are not exactly the same as temperance, but I felt that what was said about the virtue of temperance included them. I didn’t want to expand my list of virtues so I was merely saying the same thing about a similarly named virtue in a different way. Originally, I was going to expand the list of virtues to fifty-two and that would allow you to pick a new virtue upon which to meditate each week of the year. I scrapped that idea in favor of focusing on forty-seven virtues which I believe are indeed different from one another. If you want to

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xi

expand the list to a once-a-week meditation, I suggest that you include essence, power, freedom, goodness, and Providence, which are all individually discussed at the beginning of the book. They are not necessarily virtues, but are important in attempting to understand the whole idea of virtue. The virtues appear alphabetically; that does not mean that the virtue of acceptance is more important than the virtue of prudence. It’s just that at any given moment in someone’s life, one particular virtue may be more significant than another, depending on what dimension of “goodness” might be needed. Every virtue was easier for me to write about than it is for me to practice. I am particularly a warted toad when it comes to the virtue of forgiveness, for example. None of us should be seeking virtuous perfection in orienting ourselves to the good in this life; we should only be seeking change. The journey is the goal. If we seek virtuous perfection we will be sorely disappointed; and if we think we have attained virtuous perfection, we should get a second opinion right away. I wrote about virtue and goodness in this book for the same reasons I wrote about wisdom in my first book Get Wisdom7 not because I am wiser, more virtuous, or “gooder” than anyone else, but to express my desire to change my behavior and re-orient myself toward genuine goodness and the God in whom all virtue is actualized. As psalmists, prophets and angels have said in awe, “Who is like God?”8

NOTES 1. Anselm, Theistic Proofs, Proslogion, 2:1. Found in Edward N. Zalta, ed., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford, CA: Stanford Center For The Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, 2008 Edition). Found on the Standford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy website at http://plato.stanford .edu/entries/anselm/#FaiSeeUndChaPurAnsThePro (accessed 10/10/2009). See also “Glossary/Theology” in Richard P. McBrien, ed., Catholicism: New Study Edition (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994) p.12522. 2. “Philosophy.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/Index.php?search=philosophy&searchmode=none (accessed 10/10/2009). 3. Lactantius, Divine Institutes, Volume VII. From Anthony Bowen and Peter Gamsey, transl., Ante-Nicene Fathers: Fathers of the Third & Fourth Centuries (Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press, 2003) p. 389. See also “Glossary/ Prudence” in Richard P. McBrien, ed., Catholicism: New Study Edition (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994, p. 124. 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Prima Secundae, Question 55, Article 1, Reply to Objection 4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the

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New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2055.htm#article1 (accessed 10/11/2009). 5. “Augustinianism.” Karl Rahner, ed., Encyclopedia of Theology: The Concise Sacramentum Mundi (New York, NY: Seabury Press, 1975) p. 58. 6. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Prima Pars, Question 2, Article 3, Reply to Objection 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CDROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1002.htm#article3 (accessed October 10/11/2009). 7. Michael A. Hickey, Get Wisdom (Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Publishing, 2006) p.178. For the psalmists: Psalms 71:19,89:9,113:5; for the prophets: Micah 7:18–19, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also article on “Michael” which discusses the question, “Who is like God?” in Watson E. Mills and Roger A. Bullard, eds., Mercer Dictionary of the Bible (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2nd edition 1990) p. 575. 8. For the psalmists: Psalms 71:19,89:9,113:5; for the prophets: Micah 7:18–19, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also article on “Michael” which discusses the question, “Who is like God?” in Watson E. Mills and Roger A .Bullard, eds., Mercer Dictionary of the Bible (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2nd edition 1990) p. 575.

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Chapter One

Virtue

According to its etymology, the word “virtue” comes from the Latin virtus which signifies manliness.1 A virtus was a “good man” or “excellent man.” Man should be understood, of course, to mean male and female. Virtue is the highest expression of any human soul. It perfects our intellect, will, and memory. Taken in its widest sense, virtue means the goodness of something. In its strictest meaning, however, virtue signifies a habit of the soul, or habitual excellence. The virtuous person is oriented to goodness with all of the sensory and spiritual power he or she possesses; the virtuous person chooses to practice goodness through both words and concrete actions. The virtues relate us to God, goodness, ourselves, others, and the world around us. “Virtue,” says Augustine, “is a good habit consonant with our human nature.”2 As a simple working definition, then, we could say, “Virtue is the power to do good.” The four Cardinal (Latin cardo, “hinge”) Virtues are justice, courage, prudence, and temperance. They are called cardinal or hinge virtues because on these four virtues all the others swing. Every other virtue is in some way annexed to these four. These four virtues were enumerated first by the early Greek philosophers, particularly Plato,3 Aristotle,4 and the Stoics.5 Additionally, they are listed as such in the writings of the early1st century Jewish philosopher Philo.6 They appear as well in The Old Testament Wisdom Books of the Bible,7 and are reiterated in their importance by several Christian writers; among them Ambrose,8 Augustine,9 and Thomas Aquinas.10 There are also what are termed the three Supernatural Virtues of faith, hope, and love which are part of the traditions of Christianity,11 Judaism,12 and Islam.13 Furthermore it is believed that the practice of all virtue is animated and inspired by love. Virtues can be supernatural (infused as goodness by God), or natural (those which acquire goodness by human practice and activity). There are what have 1

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2

Chapter One

been considered to be human virtues, which are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will. These govern our acts, order our passions, and guide the conduct of our lives in accordance with reason and faith. Some are called Moral Virtues and these grow through education, the freedom of deliberate acts, and perseverance in struggle. It is grace which allows us to pursue the virtues and then practice them in our everyday lives. Divine grace purifies and elevates virtue. The opposite of virtue is vice. A vice is essentially a bad habit or a bad practice; it is the absence of goodness. If virtue is the power to do good; then vice tends to corruption, wickedness, or viciousness. Virtues can have several vice opposites, all distinct from each other. Grace also empowers us to reject any vice and shun the corruption of goodness. Typically vices corrupt virtues through misuse, non-use, or over-use. One of the properties of virtues is that they follow what Aristotle called “the golden mean;” that is to say, they steer a middle path between the vice of excess and the vice of deficiency. “In the center lies virtue.”14 For example, the Cardinal Virtue of courage is a type of bravery that enables a person to assess threats accurately and to confront them despite the danger. Bravery can be corrupted by a foolhardy underassessment of danger leading to recklessness (a vice of excess) or a foolhardy over-assessment of danger leading to cowardice (a vice of deficiency). This golden mean or middle path conforms with right reason. Both virtues and vices contribute to building our character. Over the course of our lives good habits or bad habits can be acquired, modified, reversed, or broken. Our final destiny depends on the character we have built throughout our lives, the person we have become in our orientation to goodness, and our response to grace. Another property of virtues is their connection with one another. “The virtues,” says St. Gregory, “if separated, cannot be perfect in the nature of virtue; for there is no true prudence which is not just and temperate and brave.”15 The reason of this connection is that no moral virtue can be attained without prudence because prudence is the function of moral virtue. Many people confuse virtues and values today. The two are not synonymous. Virtue develops good habits through a habitual practice of the will oriented toward goodness. Values, however, are qualities in things that make them desirable. Values intersect with virtues, but are much more neutral; they are subjective, sometime morally relative, and often reduced to something customary or utilitarian. Values are not anchored in reality as much as virtues are; values derive from individuals’ subjective will. It is the virtue of prudence, in particular, that gives us the ability to make wise decisions regarding values and to put those values into practice.


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Virtue

3

In the Christian New Testament, the Apostle Paul outlines nine exemplary virtues: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22–23). He calls them “karpos” (Greek for fruit) of the Holy Spirit. Paul doesn’t call them “fruits” in the plural because he envisions them almost as one entity flowing from love. In the final analysis, then, love is the essence of each and every virtue.16 Fruit Of The Spirit Fruit begins in LOVE, From love all fruit is come, All that grows On Spirit’s vine, Are seedlings love’s begun. JOY is a sign of bliss, Delight is taking place, Cannot be hidden-this, It shows upon a face. There is a sign of PEACE, When life is in a mess, When conflict doesn’t cease, And neither does duress; The quiet, calm release, You positively know, Midst chaos on the surface, Then simply letting go. Sister of wisdom, Courage too; It’s in light of adversity, That PATIENCE Shines through. Long suffering endurance, No matter fortune or fate, Patience will come, But you might have to wait. Finding KINDNESS Unsought, Is the Spirit’s surprise, It’s easy to spot— Look at one’s eyes.


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4

Chapter One

As GOODNESS flows, From Supernatural grace, An act of human will, And conscience takes place; Goodness can be Understood, As choosing the lesser evil, Or the greater good. FAITHFULNESS occurs Without seen evidence, First truth is revealed, To which one assents; But, I might mention, Just one of its quirks, It cannot exist, Unless there are works. A humble mind, Filled with GENTLENESS, Has no room for pride Or haughtiness; Gentleness is fruit Upon Spirit’s tree, Showing love’s meekness, And true humility. SELF CONTROL of Emotions And impulsive desires Is low hanging fruit The Spirit inspires. Self control within, Must be found, Before the fruit ripens, And falls to the ground. Fruit ends as begins, In LOVE as seed dies, Falls to the ground, To new life gives rise; The circle of Love, Completes Spirit’s mural; Now we know, Why “fruit” is not plural.


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Virtue

5

NOTES 1. “Virtue.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=virtue&searchmode=none (accessed 10/11/2009). 2. “Augustine” (on virtue). From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15472a.htm (accessed 10/11/2009). 3. Plato, The Republic, Books I-III. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and Benjamin Jowett, transl., The Portable Plato (New York, NY: Viking Press, 1994, first edition 1948). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/ republic.mb.txt (accessed 10/11/2009). 4. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book III. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/11/2009). 5. Alexander Murray, Religion and Society in the Middle Ages (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1978) p. 133. See also William O. Stephens, “Stoic Ethics” on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://www.iep.utm.edu/ stoiceth (accessed 10/11/2009). 6. Philo, Treatise on the Virtues, Book III and “Philo’s Ethical Doctrine.” From James Feiser and Bradley Dowden, eds., and Charles D. Yonge, transl., The Works of Philo, Complete and Unabridged (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995). Found on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://www.iep.utm.edu/philo (accessed 10/11/2009). 7. Wisdom 8:7, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 8. Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy, Book I. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/ fathers/34011.htm (accessed 10/11/2009). 9. Augustine, De Moribus Ecclessiae, “On the Morals of the Catholic Church and the Morals of the Manichaens,” Volume XIII, Ch. 15, Found at the CatholicFirst Website (accessed 10/11/2009). 10. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Articles 1 & 2, Answer, “Whether the Moral Virtues Should Be called Principal or Cardinal Virtues/ Whether There Are Four Cardinal Virtues.” From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061 .htm#article2 (accessed 10/11/2009). 11. 1 Corinthians 13:13, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica,


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Question 62, Article 3, Answer, “Whether Faith, Hope, And Charity Are Fittingly Reckoned As Theological Virtues.” From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). 12. Michael Stone, Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 1984) p.299. 13. Surah 2.132,218,195, The Noble Quran: Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an in the English Language, Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, transls., (Houston, TX: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 1999). Found on the Google Books website at http://books.google.com/books?id=IP4 lqSIvTfEC&pg=PP16&dq=The+Noble+Quran:+Interpretation+of+the+Meanings +of+the+Noble+Qur%27an+in#v=onepage&q=The%20Noble%20Quran%3A% 20Interpretation%20of%20the%20Meanings%20of%20the%20Noble%20 Qur’an%20in&f=false (accessed 10/11/2009). 14. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II, ch. 2& 6. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads. com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit .edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html (accessed 10/11/2009). 15. Gregory the Great, Church Fathers, Registrum Epistolarum, Bk XIV, Ltr 17, Connection of Virtue. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15472a.htm. 16. Galatians 5:22, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). For the psalmists: Psalms 71:19,89:9,113:5; for the prophets: Micah 7:18–19, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). Also see the article “Michael” and discusses the question, “Who is like God?” in Watson E. Mills and Roger A. Bullard, eds., Mercer Dictionary of the Bible (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1990, Edition 2), p. 575.


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Chapter Two


“To be or not to be, that is the question” —Shakespeare/Hamlet1

We’ve been saying, “Virtue is the power to do good.” What do we mean when we use the word “is?” We get our English word, “essence”, from the Greek “ousia” (being) and later from the Latin word “esse” from which we get the verb “to be” and “is.”2 It can be translated to mean “the permanent act of being or the very nature of something as opposed to its existence.”3 It is primarily from the ancient philosopher Aristotle that we get our modern thoughts about essence. He was a student of Plato. For Plato, “existence” ran a distant second to “essence” as a way of being. To see the real world was to see the ideal world and to see it as a system of essences; the idea or ideal was the real. What Plato called idea or ideal, Aristotle called essence; its opposite he referred to as matter. Matter is without shape or form or purpose. It is just “stuff;” pure potential, no actuality. Essence is what provides the shape or form or purpose to matter. Essence is “complete,” but it has no substance, no solidity. Essence and matter need each other! Essence realizes (“makes real”) matter. Essence spiritualizes matter.4 In discussing essence, Aristotle defines three kinds of souls. The essence of a plant soul is self-nutrition (the plant wants to live, so it draws life from the sun and the earth). The essence of an animal soul consists in sensations, desire, pain and pleasure, and the ability to cause motion. The essence of the human soul is, of course, reason. Aristotle suggests that, perhaps, this last soul is capable of existence apart from the body.5 Aristotle’s understanding of essence anticipated many of the concepts that have become popular over two thousand years later. For example, regarding 7


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Chapter Two

the struggle of the id and ego,6 Aristotle wrote, “There are two moving powers in the soul—desire and reason. But desire prompts actions in violation of reason . . . desire . . . may be wrong.” He also wrote, “Although desires arise which are opposed to each other, as is the case when reason and appetite are opposed, it happens only in creatures endowed with a sense of time. For reason, on account of the future, bids us resist, while desire regards the present; the momentarily pleasant appears to it as the absolutely pleasant and the absolutely good, because it does not see the future.”7 Desire can therefore work against virtue. In the end, Aristotle sees the essence of the human soul through reason leading to self-actualization.8 For Aristotle, the essence of being was not perfection but change.9 Everything has potential (power) and a goal or end towards which it progresses. Man’s highest goal is the “good life,” not a life of ease, but a life of virtue, or having a good essence, often translated as happiness or bliss.10 Many years after Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas would base his Summa Theologica on the works of Aristotle and would write, “Only in God alone is existence and essence identical.” God “is” good.11 In a life of virtue, if the essence of our being is not perfection, but change, then we are not merely human “beings;” we are also human “becomings.” Our very essence is determined by our changing and our orientation to goodness and to God. Finally, if God “is” love, as the New Testament states,12 then love is the essence of the Divine. Our very essence and our virtue can only then be measured to the extent to which we change in becoming lovers. Because love is the unique essence of every other virtue, as we progress in virtue, we are becoming better and better lovers. Our essence as lovers will only be fully known when our good life on this earth is done.13 Follow Your Bliss Follow your bliss The Christmas inside; The Spirit’s kiss, Love’s incoming tide. Your bliss has been waiting For you to discover; Your reason for living, And becoming a lover. Just unlock your essence Your cage disappears; What bars acquiescence, Is your own silly fears. Let your bliss unleash Your imprisoned spirit;


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9

To search for your paradise, You’ve always been near it. In the depths of your soul Erupts your raptured totality; The journey’s your goal, The dream, your reality.

NOTES 1. William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III, sc. 1 (London, England: Isaac Iaggard and Ed. Blount, Horace Howard Furness Shakespeare Memorial Library, Folio PR 2751.AL, year 1623). Found on the Schoenberg Center For Electronic Text and Image website, Dewey Library, U Penn http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=hamlet_ f1&PagePosition=14 (accessed 10/11/2009). 2. “Essence.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=essence&searchmode=none (accessed 10/11/2009). 3. Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book V. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics Archives website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/metaphysics.mb.txt. 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 3, Article 4, also Question 55, Article 1, Reply to Objection 4. Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1003.htm#article4 and http://www.newadvent .org/summa/2055.htm#article1 (accessed 10/11/2009). 5. Aristotle, De Anima, Book II. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., A. J. Smith, transl., The Complete Works of Aristotle (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1908). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/soul .mb.txt (accessed 10/11/2009). 6. Robert D. Nye, Three Views of Man: Perspectives from Sigmund Freud (Florence, KY: Brooks Cole Publishing, 1975) p.6. 7. Aristotle, De Anima, Book III. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., A. J. Smith, transl., The Complete Works of Aristotle (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1908). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ soul.3.iii.html (accessed 10/11/2009). 8. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book X. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.10.x.html (accessed 10/11/2009). 9. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com


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Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html (accessed 10/12/2009). 10. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book I. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html (accessed 10/12/2009). 11. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 3, Article 4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009).See also http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/1003.htm#article4 (accessed 10/12/2009). 12. 1 John 4:8, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 13. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 55, Article 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2055 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/12/2009).


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Chapter Three


Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.”1 Although this quote is perhaps his best known, there is another of his quotes I like much better. “The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.”2 Wit is a form of spontaneous intellectual humor and in that second statement, Sir Francis makes wit far more potent than either power or knowledge. A “virtue” has previously been defined as “the power to do good.” But what exactly is power? The word, “power” comes from the Latin “potens” and the French “poeir” meaning “to be able, or to have control, authority, and influence over others.” The dictionary definition principally refers to one type of power, that of power over, but there are two other types of power to be considered: power to, and power with. Power over is domination through force, threat, or coercion. Power over strives for total control and domination and must expand or die, so it fills all vacuums. Power over has little or nothing to do with virtue; the other two forms of power have much more to do with it. Power to is the ability to accomplish things individually. The ultimate source of this is God’s grace which grants the individual power through such things as love, knowledge, intellect, endurance and other human resources. Here the individual is given the power to accomplish certain things that others cannot. It is the virtue of love which has primacy in the human power to. Power with, on the other hand, is the ability to accomplish things with others. It reflects individual abilities, but stresses the sharing of power cooperatively in the form of consensus. Power with enables us to reach common goals and to share together, common problems. Power to and power with both contain the “potential” to do good which can be unleashed by virtue. The greatest sharing of power with is for human beings to share the virtue of love. As has been stated, wit is a form of humor. At its core, humor mocks power over. The so-called “powerful” are perceived to rule this world. It 11


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is really this form of power which is ultimately an illusion because it cannot transcend this world. Humor, on the other hand, is one of the primary “signals of transcendence” because it points to another world, another reality. Power over is also an illusion because beneath all power, more power is hidden. There is always someone more powerful. Finally, only the most powerful can give away their power and in doing so show their wisdom in being able to be truly free. This of course, all began with God who gave away his power to enter the world as a powerless child.3 What follows is a poem with “power” as its central theme. Human Power Power is an illusion, The reflection of pride; Seen in a mirror, Dazzling the beholder, Magnifying weakness. Power intoxicates, Then excludes, Corrupts and enslaves. Ultimately it destroys Those who seek it. Without love, Power becomes fear; Without truth, Manipulation; Without freedom, Imprisonment; Without courage, Cowardice; Without wisdom, Folly. All power Has its origin In the Creator God; Who alone is omnipotent And gives the grace For re-creation; unification, Allowing it to flow back Through the only real Human power, Powerlessness.


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NOTES 1. Basil Montagu, ed., The Works of Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor Of England, Volume I (Philadelphia, PA: A. Hart, late Carey & Hart, 1852) p. 342. Found on the Google Books website at http://books.google.com/books?q=Francis+Bacon%2C+B asil+Montagu%2C+The+Works+of+Francis+Bacon+Lord+Chancellor+Of+England +A.+Hart+late+Carey+%26+Hart%2C+1852+Original+from+Harvard+University& btnG=Search+Books (accessed 10/12/2009). 2. Basil Montagu, ed., The Works of Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor Of England, Volume I (Philadelphia, PA: A. Hart, late Carey & Hart, 1852) p.54. Found on Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=CdIqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR54&dq =the+monuments+of+wit+power+Francis+Bacon,+Basil+Montagu,+The+Works+of +Francis+Bacon+Lord+Chancellor+Of+England+A.+Hart+late+Carey+%26+Hart# v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/12/2009). 3. Luke 1:35, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970).


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Chapter Four


“To do” is to act, to practice, or to show a certain behavior. Doing flows from being, affects becoming, and is an act of freedom which takes place in the free-will of the human person. No virtue could exist without freedom. Freedom gives us the capacity to choose goodness. For example, without freedom we could not even love God or any other person. Freedom can be defined as “the right to choose and the power to be, act, speak or think without externally imposed restraints.”1 It is the capacity for self-determination through individual free-will. To be free is to be in possession of oneself. Freedom then, is the power, rooted in the will, to be or not to be, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free-will, one shapes one’s own life; free-will allows us to orient ourselves either toward or from God and goodness. Although freedom allows us “to do” some things, it moreover allows us to be someone. Freedom enters into the very definition of what it means to be human. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth. When directed toward goodness and oriented toward God through grace, freedom works its way toward perfection. Freedom can never be conceived apart from grace, so grace is a prerequisite for freedom, as it is for all virtue. The question of free-will ranks as one of the most important questions of all time. It crosses the boundaries of ethics, theology, metaphysics, philosophy and psychology. On the one hand, do we humans possess genuine freedom as the power of real choice? Do we have the true ability to mold our character and integrity by our own thoughts and actions? Or, on the other hand, are our thoughts and actions, as well as our resultant character and integrity, all merely the inevitable outcome of our circumstances? Is all of this predetermined in every detail by God, with man having no sort of real control 14


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over our destiny? These are the real questions of free-will. It is believed that Providence occurs at the intersection of human free-will and the omnipotence of God. This allows for our free-will to be really free in shaping our character while orienting ourselves to goodness and at the same time for God to be all powerful and in control of our destiny. Freedom in relation to virtue and goodness cannot be reduced to the summing up all of our virtuous acts of choice and then deducting from that all of our vicious acts of choice; the resultant sum being our “net goodness” at any point in time. Freedom has more to do with the totality of our lives being oriented to God and to goodness with the help of God’s grace. Freedom is the capacity in time and space, as well as history, for humans to decide what kind of persons they are to become in their totality. Freedom has a single unique aim, namely the self-actualization of our own personhood. Who is the person we choose to become in our day-by-day practice of virtue and orientation to goodness? Through grace, we have the freedom to choose who will be our final irrevocable self. In our orientation to goodness, choosing “to do” good can be seen as our choosing either the lesser evil or the greater good. Only through the use of good judgment and reason can we know what “to do,” in order to do good. To do good, we need to also understand what freedom is and never mistake any form of slavery, no matter how subtle, even slavery which takes the form of freedom and masquerades as it. Therefore to understand what freedom is or is not requires the practice of the Cardinal Virtue of prudence. The political freedom that so many of us now take for granted didn’t just come about because everybody agreed that it was a “great idea.” Previous generations valued it greatly and fought for it bravely. We have inherited freedom’s legacy and have become its custodians. Our choices and the consequences of those choices will affect future generations to come. To defend freedom requires the practice of the Cardinal Virtue of courage. Because freedom can be exaggerated and become the vice of license (irresponsible freedom), one of the major questions concerning freedom is always: “Are there to be any limits on freedom? At what point does my freedom impinge on another person’s, consequentially negating such freedom?” The freedom for me to swing my arm in the air stops at my neighbors nose. For freedom to benefit everyone, it requires the practice of the Cardinal Virtue of justice. Because pleasure and desire are acts of the free-will which need to be moderated and can orient us in directions away from virtue and the power to do good, freedom requires the practice of the Cardinal Virtue of temperance. God loves us unconditionally. Without love, there could be no freedom, and conversely without freedom there could be no love of God or any other.


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Love would be reduced to manipulation, calculation, and mechanical existence. Freedom gives us the will to love, which is the essence of all virtue and all goodness. What follows is a poem reflecting on freedom. Free to Be Free to be Present to myself, But limited, Both from inside And outside; Consciously and Unconsciously Situated in history, In a world Mediated by meaning; Awake and aware; Choosing; deciding What to do; Who I shall become, As a particular kind Of human being. Orienting myself To the goodness Beyond myself; Looking to The Eternal God, For the grace to Shape my life with New self-consciousness. Knowing that I am Alive by a principle Which transcends me Asking for the power To transform my will, To grant conversion Direction, purpose And meaning; As well as the Transcendent capacity To become other Than who I am.


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In the present moment, Am I who I am or Who I shall be? I am the questioner and The one being questioned. As I reflect on my freedom And experience it, I hope that I will Act responsibly, Accept the grace, Do goodness, and Move in the direction Of love.

NOTE 1. “Freedom.” Denis Howe, ed, Dictionary.com, the free online dictionary at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom (accessed 10/12/2009).


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Chapter Five

Goodness—Virtue Is the Power To Do “Good”

We’ve talked about virtue, essence and power; we’ve also just discussed freedom. But, what is goodness? “Good” became an adjective in our language as taken from the Old English, “God”, pronounced with an elongated “o.”1 Goodness is sometimes described as “whatever is oriented toward either God, happiness, bliss, life, or human flourishing.” In a philosophical sense, it implies the hope that natural love is essential, continuous, expansive, and all-inclusive. In the Middle Ages, scholastics reasoned that “goodness is diffusive of itself.”2 In other words, goodness radiates, reflects, and spreads itself, just like light. If any virtue is a power to do good, then goodness can be described as a virtue which represents quality of character or conduct, but it is not something which can be strictly defined. Aristotle tried to define goodness simply as “That at which every virtuous human action is aimed.”3 He believed that there may be some actions which are good in and of themselves, while other actions are good because they are performed for the purpose of something other than themselves which are, none the less, ultimately good. To the ancient Greeks the essence of goodness represented an eternal idea or ideal whereby there was a right relation to all that exists in the mind of The Divine. The human being’s orientation to goodness through the virtues determined the extent to which they were changing to be in harmony with the mind of The Divine. The essential bond which unites beings among themselves and to The Divine, is love, which has for its object, the good. Every human life has potential (power) for goodness, not in the sense of perfection, as much as change. This is where essence vs. existence comes in. Man’s highest goal is goodness, which through change, ultimately leads to a life of happiness or bliss. In the gospels we are told, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good” (Luke 6:45). 18


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In the Christian understanding of goodness which is based on a foundation of Judaism and which developed in part from the Greeks, goodness as happiness or bliss is an imperfect measure which attends the virtuous life, but it may be accompanied with much pain, sorrow, and suffering. Goodness in this life is not an ultimate end in itself. Only a perfectly good human being would be able to know what a perfect God is like or what is perfect goodness? There is not, nor will there ever be found, any perfectly good earthly existence in this life. Complete and perfect happiness or bliss is not to be found in earthly existence, but in the life to come, and will consist of goodness in union with God, the Supreme Good. In the meantime, changing one’s earthly life for the good is consistent with our journey; it is not the goal. Or said another way, the journey toward goodness is our earthly goal. Life Is Good! God is good; I am neither; So, I orient myself To both. Good is God; Whenever I look For either, I find only love. God is love; Love is good. I love and I am loved. I search inside And find imperfection; I look outside And find imperfection; Love must be imperfect. Can there be Such a thing as An imperfect God? Or is it because In this life I will always be just An imperfect saint? Life is good!


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HAPPINESS—LIFE IS GOOD! Happiness can be defined as “a state of well-being, bliss, or contentment.” In the section of the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount called the Beatitudes, he taught on “blessedness.”4 The philosopher Aristotle saw happiness as the practice of virtue and the highest good (Greek: eudaimonia)5 and Thomas Aquinas referred to it as “blessed happiness.”6 Happiness and virtue are intertwined. If a virtue is the power to do good, then any act of goodness is also an act of happiness. To do good is to be happy. If you want to be happy, do good. It is its own reward. A good conscience is the ground of all happiness or bliss. When you’re happy, you’re content with who you are, who you are becoming, what you have, and what you don’t have. If you are not happy with what you have then you probably won’t be happy with what you desire, even if you obtain it. There is nothing wrong with pleasure, worldly success, or wealth, but they can never bring happiness. However, if they become ends in themselves, they become gods. Pleasure is fleeting, worldly success is fickle and tenuous, and wealth can often come with its two best friends: anxiety and the fear of losing that wealth. Happiness flows between us and other people; it doesn’t come from things. It is also a fruit of the spirit of love (Galatians 5:22) which is sometimes referred to as “joy.” The time to be happy is today! Someone once told me “Be present where you are.” That has a lot to do with happiness because happiness is not going to come later nor can it be gathered up and stored away for a rainy day. It must be enjoyed in the present moment. Many people today are unhappy because they are not in the present moment; they are always projecting. To quote James Oppenheim, “The fool is always seeking happiness in the distance, while the wise person grows it under his feet.”7 Happiness is not an individual experience; it must be shared with others and with God. No one can be happy without being concerned with the happiness of others. On the other hand, no one else can make YOU happy, you must make yourself happy. If you can’t find happiness in yourself, then you are searching for it in vain somewhere else. Finally, recall that old saw, “I was unhappy that I had no shoes until I saw the man with no feet.” All happiness is relative and is somehow mixed up with suffering and sadness. We always see the two theatre arts masks, one happy and the other sad, appearing together and never individually. Because there can never be any earthly paradise; there can never be any total or perfect happiness in this life. Heaven or paradise still remains as the only state of perfect happiness/ blessedness. Happiness happens! Heaven knows! Along the way, we just get glimpses of both happiness and heaven in our orientation to goodness as we journey.


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Happiness Happens! Happiness and virtue Are never far apart Doing good is being happy Clear conscience, happy heart Growing first in love, From love happiness comes, Maturing then in goodness, From seedlings love’s begun. Producing bounties of bliss As virtue’s good surprise, Great cornucopias of joy An abundance in the eyes Reaping rows of smiles, Gleaning toothy grins, Love Cultivates eternity, Happiness happens!

ADVERSITY—IS ADVERSITY GOOD? Is adversity good? Adversity is always an uninvited guest, but it can ultimately lead to goodness. It can be defined as “adverse fortune or fate; a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress.” In its etymology the word comes from the Latin adversus which means “turned against” or “opposition.”8 Shakespeare described adversity as “An ugly and venomous toad who wears a precious jewel in its head.”9 Adversity can seem like either a constant or occasional albatross following each of us on our ship of life. We cannot avoid it. The only question is how we will react to it. Will our setbacks be stumbling blocks or stepping stones on the path to goodness? Adversity might be considered to entail our falling down, but it becomes failure only when we stay down and don’t pick ourselves up. Continuous and long-standing prosperity could have a way of corrupting our virtue. Adversity, even though we don’t ever invite it, builds character and virtue. Only in coming to grips with life’s difficulties can we see what our true potential is. Without affliction, calamity, sickness, pain, and sorrow, often there could be no appreciation of goodness or virtue. We can certainly discover virtue during times of either prosperity or adversity, but very often the path to virtue will take us in an entirely different direction. First Cicero, and then Sir Francis Bacon have said, “The virtue of prosperity, is temperance; the virtue of adversity, is courage.”10 Adversity very often makes us courageous (which is good), but it first makes us miserable.


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Every misfortune can be turned to our benefit and blessing and can make us stronger, resilient, and more confident (which is also good). A noble spirit will only appear noblest in times of adversity. Whether through traumatic events like the death of a loved one, a marriage breakup, a downward spiral into drugs or alcohol, a debilitating illness, or a job loss, adversity has a way of turning our gaze to God. Prayer should always be the first step in any reversal of fortune. When we turn to God in a time of adversity, we are turning and orienting ourselves to goodness. Furthermore, facing adversity on our own can seem overwhelming. What is also very important in times of trial and tribulation is to share our feelings with others and enlist the support of family, friends, or acquaintances. They can often help us to face what might be a seemingly impossible situation. As Plutarch said, “Adversity is the only balance to weigh our friends.”11 To Turn Is not the same God Who loveth us, the God Who made and loveth all? Is not the virtue of Prosperity, temperance; That of adversity, courage? Is not every Stumbling block the same stepping stone? Is not the ugly toad Wearing a crown jewel In its forehead? Is not the stormy sea That which produces The seasoned sailor? Is not the odor Of sweet incense only Released when it is crushed? Is not a terrible tasting tonic What the physician prescribes To nurse us back to health? Is not a frowning friend far more favorable Than a smiling stranger? Is the dreaded albatross


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Friend instead of foe? Is some goodness trailing behind every ship of woe? Is adversity the wisest teacher Sometime sadly so sublime? Is The Ancient Mariner calling, To turn and listen to his Rime?

FORTUNE—GOOD LUCK? BAD LUCK? Luck, also called fortune, is a chance happening and refers to that which appears to be beyond a person’s control. It is also seen as a belief in the organization of fortunate or unfortunate events. As a form of superstition, luck can be attributed to various factors, personal or impersonal. The element of chance in determining one’s luck has been debated since antiquity. Most discussions concerning the good or bad fortune lead to subsequent explorations into matters such as Providence, fate, destiny, predestination, and foreknowledge. In Christian thought, fortune is seen to be controlled by Providence,12 implying that no occurrence in the entire universe is outside the divine will of God. Whether received as good or ill fortune, all so-called “wheels of fortune” or “wheels of luck” are contained within the much larger “wheel of Providence.” Providence occurs at the intersection where human free will meets the omnipotence of God. Providence allows us, as individuals, to be fully free to seek our own destiny, while at the same time recognizing God as all-powerful and in control of our orientation to goodness and our ultimate destiny. Any element of chance in the universe can exist anywhere at anytime, except in God. Chance arises somewhere between God’s knowledge, which is complete and timeless, and our knowledge, which is rational, fixed in time and space, and subject to our human limitations. Furthermore, knowledge and foreknowledge are one and the same with God; in God there is no future because God is always in the present. Not so with us. We are in the present, but we don’t have God’s foreknowledge. Since in God there is no element of chance, and since no events outside of the “wheel of Providence,” this makes God, through our free-will, the primary cause of all of what we may perceive as individual good luck or individual bad luck. All fortune or luck then, is the unfolding of Providence in time. What we may see as our good luck or bad luck is God’s way of helping shape our


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individual and special destiny. This implies that all perceived “good luck” or “bad luck” is merely an illusion. Certainly, as limited human persons, we will inevitably continue to exult in what we see as our individual good fortune, and complain about what we see as our individual bad fortune. This is because we do not have either the divine mind of God or the full perspective of the work of Providence in the universe. Providence will, however, use all of our individual good or bad fortunes, for both our individual good and the collective good of humanity. Providence Guides Lied to Deceived Fallen Sinning Disobeying God Leaving Paradise Walking hand in hand Seeking place of rest Moving side by side Wandering steps and slow Seeing world before them God provides, Providence guides Tearing eyes now dry Searching Paradise within Obeying and Loving while Fearing the only God Walking in his presence Observing His Providence Depending solely on Him God provides Providence guides Overcoming evil and Accomplishing great things Subverting worldly strong and by Being meek Being more than wise Suffering for truth’s sake Winning highest victory and by Being faithful Entering through death’s door


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Living on and Acknowledging the Redeemer God provides Providence guides. Learning sum of wisdom Delivering seed Restoring all Ending happily Personalizing the story Finding Paradise within God provides Providence guides

PROVIDENCE—IT’S ALL GOOD! “There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” —William Shakespeare13

Providence is all about God and includes all happiness, adversity, fortune, and goodness. Something is called providential when it makes provision for the future. The root meaning of the word comes from the Latin pro-videre which means “to see ahead.”14 “Providence” refers to divine foresight in shaping history and each and every human being in history. Essentially it corresponds to God’s grace-filled guidance and loving care for us, but that may be an over-simplification of something far more complicated to describe. The question, “what is Providence?” is not so easy to address because it is so comprehensive. As we have seen, Providence involves God’s relationship to every single human being throughout history—past, present, and future—and occurs at the juncture of God’s sovereignty and our individual human freedom. This is where it gets complicated because you cannot emphasize the power of God so strongly that it negates the power of our human free-will. To define “Providence” you can never take history out of God’s or humans’ hands. If you exaggerate one over the other then either (a) God is limited and therefore not God or (b) we are not free-willed beings and therefore not human. Providence includes all things, whether we see them as good or bad. Providence is also about God using so called bad things as a means to our ultimate good. What we call luck, fortune, or fate may play a role in the affairs of men (either for good or bad), but only to the extent that Divine Providence allows in each person’s life in the context of history. As has been stated, Providence always circumscribes both individual good luck or bad luck. In watching


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over the affairs of men, often Divine Providence can work better through our mistakes than through our wisest and most profound thoughts. Finally, if Divine Providence is truly active, then there is no such thing as a coincidence from God’s perspective, only from our perspective. God uses all the seemingly random events of our lives to bring about our ultimate good. How this is worked out in reality is completely mysterious to us, as mystery is the home of reality. It is beyond our ability to fully fathom how God can use everything, absolutely everything to bring about goodness. Our humanity is too limited by our mind’s ability to grasp this. During the time we are on earth, however, we are asked to play our small part and orient ourselves to goodness in developing and practicing virtue. This will allow grace to give us the power to do good, including some good which may always be totally hidden from our eyes during our earthly journey. Although we cannot understand exactly how through Providence all things will work together for good, we are just asked to accept this and believe somehow, someway—it’s all good!15 Coincidences Coincidences happen a lot Corresponding in time or space. Are they accidents or not? Or perhaps all acts of grace? Are they random or connected? Can we ever be so sure? The answer is subjected To a matter of conjecture. Is everything accidental? Fate perhaps selecting? Or is Providence instrumental, God perhaps perfecting? Coincidences indeed happen, This we know-leave it there; Why? A judgment call, God may one day share.

NOTES 1. “Good.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www. etymonline.com/index.php?search=good&searchmode=none (accessed 10/12/2009). 2. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 5, Article 4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver,


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CO: Advent International, 2009). See New Advent website at http://www.newadvent .org/summa/1005.htm#article4 (accessed 10/12/2009). 3. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book I. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html (accessed 10/12/2009). 4. Matthew 5:3–10; Luke 6:22, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 5. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book I. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.1.i.html (accessed 10/13/2009). 6. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 4, Article 6, From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/2004.htm#article6 (accessed 10/13/2009). 7. “Happiness” quote by James Oppenheim. Michael Moncur, ed., Readers Digest Quotable Quotes (Pleasantville, NY: Readers Digest, 1997). See also the Quotations Page website at http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/James_Oppenheim (accessed 10/13/2009). 8. “Adverse.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary. Found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=adverse&searchmode=none (accessed 10/14/2009). 9. William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, sc. 1, Samuel Thurber and Louise Wetherbee, eds., The Academy Classics: As You Like It (Boston, MA: Albyn and Bacon, 1922) p.24. http://books.google.com/books?id=VhMlAAAAMAAJ&dq=text +shakespeare+as+you+like+it+act+II,+sc.+1&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl= en&ei=7jXWSqmVIIjsQPs5aHNAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4 &ved=0CBYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/14/2009). 10. Marcus Tullius Cicero, The Orations, Volume III, No. 10. From William Duncan, transl., Classical Family Library: Cicero, The Orations (New York, NY: Harper & Bros, 1839, 1811) p. 276. http://books.google.com/books?id=e3AVAAAAYAAJ &pg=PA276&dq=the+orations+of+Marcus+Tullius+Cicero+the+virtue+of+adversit y&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/14/2009). See also Francis Bacon, “Religious Meditations, Of Adversity, Essay V,” The Essays of Francis Bacon (London, England: Arthur L. Humphreys & Co., 1907) p. 23. Found on the Googlebooks.com website http://books.google.com/books?id=GiXPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA23&dq=the +essays+of+francis+bacon+essay+V+adversity+prosperity#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/14/2009). 11. Plutarch Quotation. Richard A. Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations, Life’s Ideal (New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2002) p.273. Found on the Googlebooks. com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=2k96AB7VU7YC&pg=PA273&d q=adversity+is+the+best+balance+to+weigh+our+friends+plutarch#v=onepage&q= adversity%20is%20the%20best%20balance%20to%20weigh%20our%20friends%20 plutarch&f=false (accessed 10/15/2009).


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12. Augustine, City of God, Volume XI, Book 1. From Marcus Dods, ed. and transl., The Works of Augustine Bishop of Hippo (New York, NY: T & T Clark/C. Scribner, 1871). Found at CatholicFirst http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/church fathers/Volume11/augustincity01.cfm (accessed 10/14/2009). See also Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, located in Israel Golanz, ed., W.V. Cooper, transl., The Temple Classics (London, England: J.M. Dent & Co., 1902) pp. 140–168. Found on the University of Virginia Library website at http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ toccer-new?id=BoePhil&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/ parsed&tag=public &part=5&division=div (accessed 10/14/2009). 13. William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Act V, Scene II. From Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, eds., Shakespeare Third Series, The Texts of 1603 and 1623 (London, England: High Holborn House, 2006) p. 350. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=rIO9XG4ucGgC&pg=PA3 50&dq=there+is+a+special+providence+in+the+fall+of+a+sparrow+hamlet+the+tex ts+of+1603+and+1623#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/15/2009). 14. “Providence.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at Etymology.com http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=providence&search mode=none (accessed 10/15/2009). 15. Romans 8:28, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970).

Growing in virtue first requires a realistic assessment of ourselves. This will then allow us to make lasting changes in our orientation to goodness. We cannot make this assessment unless we accept who we are. One of the barriers to accepting who we are comes in our facing reality. Very often, we deceive ourselves by creating illusions concerning ourselves. Because of these illusions, the person we see ourselves as accepting and the person God is actually accepting are far apart. Until we change, we will be unable to grow in the spiritual life or to make any real progress on the path to goodness. Now that we have a better idea of what virtue is, and the roles that adversity, fortune, and Providence play, let’s take a closer look at some particular virtues and explore them, starting alphabetically with the virtue of acceptance.


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ACCEPTANCE You could say it is just a “coincidence” that the virtue of acceptance comes first alphabetically; however, it is no accident. To many people today, acceptance is not seen as a virtue at all. It is seen as “giving in” or “giving up,” both of which are understood to have negative connotations. The etymology of the word “acceptance” is from the Latin acceptare which is rendered as “to receive willingly what is offered.”1 So, the virtue of acceptance implies that we are to receive willingly all that God is allowing on the path to goodness and to endure it without protest or complaint. Acceptance requires us to believe in faith, with God, all things will work together for good.2 It can become a habit of the will, whether we perceive something as good or bad. Our faith will essentially become trust. One of the highest attainments in the virtuous life is to ultimately be able to say to God, “Thy will be done.” Although we are discussing acceptance as the first of the virtues, it is surely not because it is the easiest to live out in our everyday lives. With acceptance we resign ourselves to God’s will; we respond submissively and conform our will to God’s will in what is considered inevitable. This is carried out either expressly or in conduct. In exercising the virtue of acceptance, we acquiesce, assent, and then accept. We begin to experience the reality of a situation without an intention to change it. Acceptance seeks to lovingly embrace reality and not suppress or deny it. This is not done as any stoic act of indifference. However, it does involve the prudent recognition of what can be changed and what cannot be changed about reality. In many of the world’s religions, the virtue of acceptance entails the consideration that all pain, sorrow, suffering, and death is a natural part of life. This, of course, is not easy to accept because it is not easy to understand 29


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how at times a loving God can allow this, particularly when someone we love is the recipient. In The Gospels, Jesus requires faith in him. This presupposes the acceptance of his message. The virtue of acceptance is rooted in the Cardinal Virtues of courage and prudence and is an expression of the virtue of love. It is also aligned with the virtues of faithfulness, hope, forgiveness, tolerance, obedience, humility, and patience. Acceptance requires patience—patience with God, ourselves, others, and circumstances. Because ultimately, acceptance is an expression of love, it must be patient (Galatians 5:22). The roots of the virtue of acceptance in the Cardinal Virtues of courage and prudence can be seen vividly in the Alcoholics Anonymous Creed, sometimes called “The Serenity Prayer.”3 The American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr composed the forerunner (see below) of what eventually became the Serenity Prayer. He composed it in 1926 after a severe bout with depression.4 For many of us, it takes significant adversity to bring us to acceptance, which in turn enables us to find goodness. The Serenity Prayer God, Grant me the serenity to Accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Many of life’s frustrations arise from our unwillingness to manifest the Cardinal Virtue of courage to change things we should, in fact, change. Other frustrations arise when we attempt to change things we inevitably should accept. The Cardinal Virtue of prudence (practical wisdom) teaches us the difference and gives us a greater measure of the virtue of acceptance. This allows us to accept who we are at the deepest level of our humanity, a place beyond all masks and illusions. What follows is a poem titled Slaying The Great Sea Dragon which was written as I reflected on the virtue of acceptance.


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Slaying The Great Sea Dragon Never visible on the surface Only at deepest of the deep His one and only purpose Is the life he wants to keep Falseself is his name He’s fully self sufficient Accept him and he’s tame His pride; viciously deficient He’ll not allow me Prayerfully to seek Or open inner eye to see God is humble and is meek I turn away—he chases He’s relentless in pursuit Masked with many faces Even hiding at my root I can find my self at center Beyond dragon’s bounded reach There’s a place he cannot enter For that would cause a breach Christ can lead the way To a victory at sea I accept his word today “Love God ; neighbor as me” To yield instead of vying Allows Falseself to live on I can slay him by my dying Trueself would then be born

NOTES 1. “Accept.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=accept&searchmode=none (accessed 10/15/2009). 2. Romans 8:28, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 3. “Serenity Prayer” by Reinhold Niebuhr. From Quotation #1472 at Nathan Haskell Dole, ed., Bartlett’s Famous Quotations (Boston, MA: Little Brown & Co., 1919). See also Suzi Platt, ed., Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from


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the Congressional Research Service (Washington DC: Library of Congress, 1989); Bartleby.com, 2003, www.bartleby.com/73/ (accessed 10/16/2009). First appeared in The A.A. Grapevine, January 1950, pp. 6–7. Alcoholics Anonymous has used this prayer, with minor changes in wording, since about 1940. Found on the Bartleby Quotations website at http://bartleby.com/73/1472.html (accessed 10/15/2009). 4. “Optimism, Pessimism, & Religious Faith.” From Robert McAfee Brown, ed., The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr, Selected Essays and Addresses (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986) p.3. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http:// books.google.com/books/yup?vid=ISBN9780300040012&q=adversity#v=onepage& q=adversity&f=false (accessed 10/15/2009).


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COMPASSION The virtue of compassion is to exercise loving care when someone is hurt or troubled, even if you don’t know that person. It is a desire to help combined with action, even if all you can do is listen and say a kind and gentle word. You are essentially a friend when someone needs a friend. In ancient mythology, Venus was the goddess of passion.1 In Christianity, Jesus becomes the God of passion, and we often speak poetically about “The Passion of Christ.”2 In the Christian churches, the week before Easter is considered “Passion Week.”3 There is, of course, a connection between “passion” (Latin: passio) and “compassion” (Latin: compassio).4 Both have to do with suffering. Passion is an intense, driven, feeling or strong emotion, while the virtue of compassion is an active force or fundamental energy that seeks to remove the causes of suffering of others and focuses our passion. It does not begin with sympathy or pity, but with empathy. Empathy occurs when we look at a fellow human being and say, “There I am,” or “That is me.” The virtue of compassion has to do with closeness, because the closer we are to people, the more unbearable we find their suffering. Normally, we feel closer to those we love than we do to strangers, but this virtue helps to narrow the distance between people so that we would feel a closeness even to strangers who might be suffering. Compassion is unconditional and removes the distance; it tears down the walls between self and others. What militates against this is our own self-centeredness and selfish instincts. Prayerful contemplation helps us develop the virtue of compassion. Poetry often conveys the essence of a greater meaning beyond the words. This is the reason why the virtue of compassion can best be expressed poetically, because oftentimes we cannot express the mystery of suffering or 33


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our true inner feelings in the words of prose. Just as the Holy Grail king, suffering from his incurable wound, became more compassionate, we, too, are “wounded healers.”5 The contemplative Thomas Merton said, “Compassion is based on keen awareness of the interdependence of all human beings, which are all part of one another.6 The Dalai Lama has said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.7 Much of life is pain and suffering; compassion is shared suffering which transforms our passion and awakens our hearts to humanity. Only compassion knows the road to world peace. The Cardinal Virtue of prudence and the virtue of compassion are also intertwined because compassion must flow from the heart in love, kindness, and caring at the same time that wisdom flows from our mind in right thinking and right understanding. If not, we become either good hearted fools and our compassion ends in folly, or we become hard hearted intellectuals and our wisdom ends up without true feeling, sensitivity, or empathy for others who suffer. We have been told that the world will never change until we “love others the way we love ourselves.”8 Some of us in the world lead a prosperous existence and others are living hand to mouth in poverty. At our very core we are all the same; this particular virtue allows us to bridge that distance and share in the suffering of others. What follows is a poem written on a visit to the country of Haiti during a time when I was Executive Director of a charitable non-profit. The trip was a life changing experience which transformed my passion into compassion and my compassion into poetry because I did not have the words to express the experience otherwise. Citie Soleil Have you ever been to Haiti Just off the Florida coast? Seems this country’s been forsaken, By all but the Holy Ghost. The people there are ghastly poor, Their lives are helter-skelter; They have little food, Not much clothes, And very little shelter. If you drop by for a visit, Don’t miss Citie Soleil, It will render you to silence, You won’t know what to say. When I heard this city’s name, I wondered, Is someone making fun?


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On top of dung heaps, rot, and filth Sits “the City of The Sun.” By lakes of running sewage, abide people living life; Existing in conditions of Worst squalor, hunger, strife. The natives speak a language, Based on African and French; Piled up garbage in the trenches, Creates a constant stench. But the people, they are joyful, Toothy smiles upon brown faces, They are thankful for all things, From God’s bestowing graces. Impossible, how could it be? They have naught for which to boast, Then a voice inside me whispers, “Could they have the Holy Ghost?” I begin to weep as little child, Sobbing uncontrollably, I realize it is me that has The abject poverty. I thank the Lord for being there Amid His Eucharistic host, I thank Him for the privilege Of receiving His Holy Ghost

CONFIDENCE The etymology for “confidence” comes from the Latin confidere which means “with faith or trust.”9 The virtue of confidence is having faith and trust in God, goodness, in yourself and your capabilities and talents, or someone else’s. Whether others have confidence in you or you have confidence in others, there is an alignment with the virtue of reliability. Thomas Aquinas considered confidence to be part of the Cardinal Virtue of courage.10 Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as those without it may fail or not try because they lack it. Those with it may succeed because they have it, rather than because of an innate ability. We live in a competitive society that exists in a success-driven world. Some of us suffer from poor self-image, insecurities, and low self-esteem. We occasionally try to pass this off as the virtue of humility—it’s not. This lack of confidence tends toward a vice of deficiency.


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Usually when someone is referred to as “confident” they are referring to the virtue of self-confidence. Self-confidence is trusting that you have whatever is necessary to handle anything that happens. It relates to self-assuredness in one’s personal judgment, ability, and power. You feel sure of yourself and do not allow doubts or fears to hold you back. Self-confidence does require a certain freedom from doubt and being self-possessed. However, unless it is grounded in a trust in God’s Providence, and aligned with the virtues of courage, hope, humility, prudence, and discretion, it can cross a line and become a vice of excess, such as pride, presumption, arrogance, conceit, insolence, or haughtiness. As a virtue, self-confidence carries none of the aforementioned unpleasant and objectionable connotations. It has an aroma of goodness that comes from a recognition of grace-given talents and powers; it doesn’t have even a whiff of the vices. It requires a humbleness of mind and trust in Providence to be a virtue. It can grow out of long experience, training, as well as virtuous perseverance and constant discipline. It also develops, out of the virtue of inner peace. There is what is called a “quiet confidence.” Shakespeare cautions, “Modest doubt is the beacon of the wise.”11 Any virtuous confidence in human powers, talents, abilities, or strengths needs to be tempered by the Cardinal Virtue of prudence which is the practical wisdom which enables us to make a realistic assessment.12 It also empowers us to discern and make allowance for our own human limitations and weaknesses and those of others as well. A good balance here is to remember Ignatius of Loyola’s credo, “Pray like everything depends on God, but then work like everything depends on you.”13 What follows is a poem dedicated to my late mom, Mary Hickey, whose quiet confidence was one of her strongest virtues. Quiet Confidence “What goes ’round comes ’round” Oft mother said to me. In different words, Same thing, she said, “Cast your bread upon the sea.” Never went to college, Didn’t write a book, Never said with single word, What she could say with look. Confident, yet humble, An unassuming soul; Being half the person she was Is my life’s fervent goal.


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When she lived I didn’t know her, Not as I do today, Contemplation often tells, More than life Along the way. I see her when lilacs flower Purple color, pungent scent, Beautiful in their hour, Then oh, so quickly spent. Holding my children ’round her knees Her reading; They not making sound, Confidently knowing that, “. . . around comes around” I’ll see her once again, With purple dress, replete, When I do I’ll ask her, Is your circle now complete? I dearly loved her And she knew it, Wish I loved her more, I hope she feels My heartfelt thoughts, Beyond death’s doleful door. What famed poet said, To his chagrin She lived with snap of fingers, She knew within What I’ve but read, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”

CONSCIOUSNESS “Love is too young to know what conscience is.” —William Shakespeare14

The word “consciousness” is derived from the Latin conscientia which primarily means moral conscience.15 Literally it means “knowledge-with” or “shared knowledge.” Consciousness, in its broadest sense includes all our


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sensations, thoughts, feelings, and intuitions—it is the sum total of all phenomena held in our mind. The term self-consciousness is used to denote the higher state or more reflective form of knowledge in which we formally recognize these states of awareness as our own. By this we mean that the mind has consciousness of its own operations and contains the ability to reflect upon its own state of consciousness in an introspective way. In a state of consciousness, we’re aware of ourselves and our situation in the context of our environment. This is contrasted, of course, with unconscious processes which can also be used to bring about goodness, but not necessarily with personal knowledge, responsibility, or awareness. The virtue of consciousness is then the collective gathering of life’s energy to bring about goodness. It allows us to have the experience of ourselves as moral agents. We practice behavior which makes us aware and responsible for our own virtuous or vicious actions. Greater consciousness requires one to be willing to be silent; to turn inward, contemplate, and reflect. The noted theologian Teilhard De Chardin said, “Life moves to higher and higher levels of consciousness . . . The higher forms of life not only ‘know’—we know that we know.”16 The more that we have consciousness of our knowing powers and how they impact our thoughts, decisions, and actions, the more we become self-conscious, selfactualized, and self-possessed. It is our conscience which gives rise to our consciousness. Conscience is the consciousness of not only the power to do good, but also the consciousness of vice. The Greek word for conscience is syneidesis, meaning “thoughts and actions of the inmost being.”17 Our conscience gives us an awareness of our own wrongdoing and vicious behavior. Conscience is a depth experience. It is that still small voice inside us that tells us that we are responsible for our own good or bad thoughts and actions. Similar to most poetry, the voice of conscience is often subtle, vague, mysterious, and not always easy to understand. It is directed by our own individual free will and its orientation is to goodness as an ultimate goal. The well-formed conscience is upright and truthful and formulates its judgments according to right reason. Its foundation is the natural moral law: a universal moral sense reflecting residing in the human soul reflecting the image of God in us (Genesis 1:26–27). Our conscience resides at the most secret inner core and sanctuary of our humanity where we are all alone with who we claim to know as our Creator. When we conform to the dictates of our conscience, we conform to being true to our truest self—morally, fairly, justly, and lovingly. Our conscience occasionally will give us pangs of guilt if we violate its dictates, but a healthy conscience will serve to move us from wallowing in guilt and empower us to correct wrong thoughts and vicious actions whenever we can.


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Faithful Friend She is a spark here on earth, Of the blazing fire of Paradise, God’s Word fathered her birth, God’s Wisdom mothered her life. She’s my conscience, a faithful friend, I consult her in decisions, Her introduction to this end, Often creates internal divisions. She lives as a natural law Whose domain is in my soul, She pricks my insides raw, To achieve her noblest goal. She is the mistress of my will, The queen of all right reason, Remaining silently subtle until, She senses betrayal out of season. At providential intersections, My freedom and conscience meet, Here she raises strong objections, To license, falsity, deceit. She makes her presence known, With worst possible timing, Contradicting passions full blown, Wrong reason or ill-rhyming. She’s that still small voice inside, A very benevolent dictator, The governess of my pride, So I’m sorry now, not later. Her voice echoes in my core, “Do what’s right, not expedient,” I occasionally play the bore, To be principled and obedient. If I go against her dictates, For proper guidance of life, She’s impatient as she waits, Nagging, like a scorned wife. She’s not always easy to read, On occasion, speaking poetically,


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She only provides me the seed, Of what finally flowers to clarity. In her garden on the Isle of Guilt, She’s constantly kneeling in prayer, I sometime visit the castle she built, But I don’t ever want to live there.

COURAGE “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill18

We get our word “courage” from the Latin coraticum meaning “with heart.”19 The virtue of courage can be defined as “The physical, mental, or moral strength to persevere and endure pain, danger, or adversity.”20 Courage implies firmness of mind and the ability to meet strain or stress with fortitude, tenacity and resilience. As a virtue it implies a quality of strength; it enables us to hold our own against opposition, difficulty, or temptation often after repeated failed attempts.21 One who has this virtue is brave, resolute, and possesses firmness of character. Courage and strength are usually linked. Every form of true courage and strength, I believe, is rooted in God, has its basis in love, and serves justice. It often enables us to face serious challenges or endure suffering or pain for a just cause. As has been stated previously, any virtue is a power to accomplish good. Courage is considered to be one of the four Cardinal Virtues, along with justice, prudence, and temperance.22 The word “cardinal” comes from the Latin word cardo meaning “hinge;”23 these four connect us to all other virtues. Courage fortifies us against the vice of cowardice (a vice of deficiency) and restrains us from recklessness (a vice of excess). It is the middle path between timidity and temerity.24 There are some things courage is not. Courage is not about the absence of fear, but about having fear and overcoming it. Bravery in the service of ignoble purposes is not courage; it is recklessness. And not all courage is physical, as physical strength is not always involved. Courage may be shown by mental or moral courage in facing public shaming, prejudice, exclusion or mockery for taking an unpopular stance. Courage can also be demonstrated by a person’s open and honest response to one’s own wrongdoing which has resulted in a reprimand or scandal.


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It’s been said, “A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not why ships were made.”25 Without risk, there can be no personal growth in courage. We often grow through challenge, adventure, or adversity because what doesn’t destroy us always makes us stronger.26 Every life is a personal odyssey. In poetry, the symbol or metaphor that is often used to write about courage is the lion. Courage is depicted symbolically as taming the ferocious lion. This is also illustrated in many famous works of art such as Ruben’s Triumph Of Divine Love where the motherly figure of Charity is shown standing in a processional chariot drawn by two subdued lions. A lion is sometimes used as a symbol for the Gospel of Mark to depict both the courage and majesty of Jesus, elsewhere known as “The Lion Of Judah.”27 Nowhere was this imagery more evident to me than once, when I visited St. Mark’s Square in Venice, I discovered its hundreds of concrete lions. What follows is a poem written subsequent to that trip to St. Mark’s Square in Venice. Roar Of The Lion Tracing Byron’s steps At St. Mark’s Square, After gondola ride; Flocks of people; Pigeons everywhere; At Bridge of Sighs, Thoughts give rise, To powerful Doges Of ages past. Suddenly, I become aware, Of the greater power Of roarless lions there. Two millennia hence Since Mark came, went; To my ear, roar’s deafness; To my heart, not silent. The lion lives Not just in stone The lion roars in me; In the square Alone. No one hears him In me inside,


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No one but me, For I claim Birth of his pride. I’ll not roar either, You’d think me absurd; Mark’s roar long silenced; Mine, a day soon; Never, Jesus’ word.

COURTESY The virtue of courtesy is displayed by gracious, deferential, respectful, polite, or gallant behavior toward others. When courtesy is practiced it makes others feel esteemed and respected because it affirms the value of their humanity. As a virtue, courtesy is marked by high-minded consideration and conduct, with genuine interest in the rights and sensibilities of others. Courtesy reflects underlying ethical behavior and goes beyond mere etiquette, which concerns itself more with cultural customs and fashions.28 Courtesy impacts the manner in which people interact with one another. It may entail simple politeness, manners, greeting others, offering hospitality, social conversation, comforting the sick or bereaved, giving or accepting thanks, decorum, not causing public disturbance or disgrace, offering assistance to those in need, welcoming strangers, responding to someone in distress, and exercising humility or restraint. Courtesy can be called simply the exercising of The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”29 Guided by the Cardinal Virtues of justice and prudence (the rudder virtue), courtesy aligns with the virtues of love, kindness, humility, honor, and honesty. Not exercising courtesy can create misunderstandings and can cause hurt, anger, grief, pain or even lead to public disgrace. In its extreme, discourtesy can lead to rage or conflict. Exercising the virtue of courtesy when someone else is acting discourteously can very well require the employment of the Cardinal Virtues of courage and temperance. Originally, the word “courtesy” derived from the Latin cortem, a “court” or “enclosed yard.” It had to do with the expected homage, manners, and behavior of those at the sovereign’s court. From this evolved the juridicial meaning of court because assemblies for justice were personally overseen by the sovereign.30 During the Middle Ages the term “chivalry” came to be closely linked to courtly courtesy. In French, a cheval was a “horse” and a chevaler (later cavalier) was a “mounted knight.” These mounted knights of


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chivalry were expected to show courtly behavior, especially toward women. This included “courtly love,” the idea that a knight was to serve one royal lady, and after her to treat all other ladies with virtue, honor, gentleness and graciousness. Eventually, chivalry became an idealized, moral, religious, and social code of knightly conduct.31 Finally, courtesy is a mirror that reflects our character to us. It measures all we do and say and tells us where we are on the path to goodness. It returns us full circle to where the word “virtue” came from in the first place, from the Latin vir (“man”) and virtus (“good man” or “excellent man”). For both men and women, courtesy displays true “manhood” at its absolute best. Common Courtesy “Chivalry’s dead,” somebody said; ‘Maybe just comatose’ stated another, From what I’ve read with dire dread, This ship may have lost its rudder. If you ask me about courtesy, An ounce of common is not found, You can search the world round like a bloody hound, Buy only etiquette for a penny a pound. We’re turning the page on a bygone age, With much sadness and chagrin; We’ve reached the stage where rudeness and rage, Are norms for the times we live in. It’s the truth, we’ve become uncouth, Disrespect has become an art, My point is clear, even “cavalier,” Doesn’t mean what it meant at the start.

CREATIVITY The virtue of creativity is the generation of “new” ideas or concepts. It is the power of imagination and reaching within to discover your own individual and special God-given talents. You then use that creative power for doing good. Creative people dare to see things in new ways and discover very different ways to solve problems. With the virtue of creativity, we bring something entirely new into the world which allows us to envision a life filled with virtue in brand new ways. The etymology of the word comes from the Latin creatus which means literally “to have grown.”32


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Creative people will always be open to seeking new challenges and opportunities to grow. Personal growth in a life of virtue will constantly be seen as changing, evolving, or morphing in time. One will make an effort to imagine new ways for practicing good habits. Often operative in this virtue is the presence of inspiration, cognitive leaps, and intuitive insight. Much creativity is generated when somebody discards preconceived assumptions and decides on new approaches as to what might seem to others “the unthinkable.” God’s very first act in the universe was a creative act, that being creation itself. In terms of creativity, only God can create out of absolutely nothing.33 Therefore, for the rest of us, as it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, in the Bible, “There is nothing new under the sun.”34 Something is considered “creative” if it blends what existed in the past with what is possible in the present in a brand new way. All new items of information are based on disassociated preceding items, and are considered “new” because they restructure the preceding items. It is necessary for the virtue of prudence to temper the virtue of creativity. Creative people alternate between imagination and fantasy, but they must also be wisely grounded in reality. Because creative people have the gift to be able to recognize alternatives, imagine possibilities, and to ultimately solve problems, they view things in new ways in an effort to better communicate reality to others. For creativity to be virtuous, it must be more than novel, inventive, and original; there must first be recognition that anything new coming into the world comes through the grace of God. Then it has the potential to be oriented toward goodness and the creative power to do good. The ingredients for creativity depend on the store of ideas that are available for recombination at any one time. For example, a poet has the same access to an existing word base and world of ideas as everyone else, but uses certain words and ideas in a new and different way to enhance meaning. People who are creative are original, imaginative, and inventive; they are risk takers and convention challengers. They will deviate from the ordinary and traditional and create what is distinctive; they will rearrange the old to express something in a brand new way. The virtue of creativity is virtuous artistry, and there is no single way to imagine how to produce a work of art. Artists staying true to the vision within usually also have the gifts of heightened passion and increased sensitivity for others. Their virtuous creativity gives them a consciousness and empathy for the pain, suffering, and oppression of others in the world. They will then look for creative ways to use this virtue as a power to do good. They will do their part to attempt to creatively alleviate some amount of the pain, suffering or oppression of others. In small ways this will make the world a better place to live so that more people in the world will eventually be able to say, “Life is good.”


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Hour Glass time is slipping away and I wish I had more time to grow, become the person I should be; to love more, to know more. is time my real enemy or the false limits I have placed on becoming self today unto Eternity? and is tomorrow merely just another day or is it the openness of time into infinity and the promise of a patient God who waits for me to receive his offer of unconditional love and to grow to know him in eternity in ways I have not; time after time, after time, after time, after time, in time?

CURIOSITY “Never lose a holy curiosity.” —Albert Einstein35

As a virtue, “curiosity” can be defined as a healthy, natural sense of wonder and inquisitiveness, a desire to investigate, explore, and learn. It allows one to possess an enthusiastic openness to having new opinions. However, curiosity can cross the line and become a vice as well, if it moves toward nosiness, meddlesomeness, and intrusiveness. Curiosity can also turn vicious when it becomes “idle curiosity” or “morbid curiosity.” Both Augustine and Aquinas speak of curiosity as a vice. Recall the admonition, “Curiosity killed the cat.”36 The etymology of curiosity comes from the Latin word cura meaning “care;” it evolved to imply “a diligence and an object of interest.”37 In this sense, it has some value in promoting the virtue of caring about goodness. One of the best ways to satisfy curiosity has been to ask questions; such as who? what? when? where? why? and how? One should always be open not only to learning, but also to unlearning, and relearning. Outwardly, curiosity can take an intellectual dimension in the form of awe or wonder and the desire to learn more about the things of the universe and


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our place in it. Socrates once said, “Wisdom begins in wonder.”38 As a virtue, curiosity in the sense of wonder or awe can be aligned with the Cardinal Virtue of prudence. When curiosity is directed inwardly it can be associated with contemplation and self-reflection. It contributes to what is called the examined life and subsequently the good life. Curiosity is an unsatiated thirst in the soul. It involves prudent choice and judgment because one has the choice to decide what things are worth investigating. We also possess the judgment to determine that something is worth inquiring about in the first place. There is also a choice whether or not to act on something that has aroused our interest and made us curious. This has been the case beginning with the devil’s invitation to Eve in the mythical Garden of Eden to grasp for hidden and self-aggrandizing knowledge.39 Curiosity, shaped only by a desire to know and devoid of love and the wisdom to find its limits in God, can be a dangerous and self-destructive vice. We should not always act impulsively on our curious nature or what has aroused our interest. What follows is a poem which was written as a reflection on the virtue of curiosity mediated by prudence. Contemplating Curiosity Maturing in wonder Though childlike still Unmasking ignorance Born in the will Sister of Truth Daughter of Mystery Mother of Knowledge And Discovery Who, what, when, Where, and how Needing to know To know now Thirsting to see: Beyond the horizon Around the bend Inside the box To infinity’s end Below the surface Above the sky Through the mystery Always questioning why


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Exploring, reflecting Opinions anew Learning; unlearning Relearning too Speculating Investigating Contemplating Integrating Though shalt not! Though shalt! Knowledge grows Love says “halt” Curiosity hath killed The inquiring cat But, killing curiosity How to do that?

NOTES 1. “Venus.” Arthur Cotterell, ed., World Mythology, Legendary Figures and Mythical Creatures (London, England, 2005) p. 73. 2. Mark 15:1–47, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 3. Mark 14:3–9 (Passion Week: Historically, the week prior to the crucifixion and resurrection, usually beginning with Jesus arrival in Bethany), New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 4. “Compassion.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=compassion&searchmode=none(acce ssed 10/15/2009). 5. Henri Nouwen, Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, 1979) p. 95. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=nAm8wWMKv0QC&p g=PA95&dq=we+are+Wounded+Healers+Henri+Nouwen#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/15/09). 6. Thomas Merton, in the final talk before his death, Matthew Fox, ed., A Spirituality Named Compassion (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions House, Bear & Co., 1999) p. 141. Found on Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/ books?id=uQOMSEj7rocC&pg=PA141&dq= Compassion+is+based+on+keen+a wareness+of+the+interdependence+of+all+human+beings+Thomas+Merton#v=o nepage&q=Compassion%20is%20based%20on%20keen%20awareness%20of%20 the%20interdependence%20of%20all%20human%20beings%20Thomas%20 Merton&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009).


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7. Compassion quote by the Dali Lama. From Richard A. Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations, Life’s Ideal (New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2002) p.56. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books ?id=HgM4tztnJFcC&pg=PA56&dq=If+you+want+others+to+be+happy,+practice+ compassion.++If+you+want+to+be+happy,+practice+compassion+Dali+Lama&lr= #v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 8. Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 9. “Confidence.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=confidence&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 10. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 128, Article I , Reply to Obj. from the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3128.htm (accessed 10/16/2009). 11. William Shakespeare, Troilus & Cresida, Act II, sc. 2. From K. Deighton, ed., The Works of Shakespeare (London, England: Methuen & Co., 1906) p.64. Found on the Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=wQIhDHDVwq0C&pg= PA64&dq=Modest+doubt+is+the+beacon+of+the+wise+William+Shakespeare#v= onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 12. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 128, Article I, Reply to Obj. from the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3128.htm (accessed 10/16/2009). 13. Attributed to Ignatius of Loyola. See Article #2834 in U.S. Catholic Bishops, Catechism of the Catholic Church (New Hope, KY: Urbi Et Orbi, St. Martin de Porres Community, 1994) p. 680. See also Joseph de Guibert, The Jesuits, Their Spiritual Doctrine & Practice (Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1964) p. 148. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=cymM4xEM76 wC&pg=PA602&dq=The+spiritual+exercises+ignatius+pray+as+if+everything+dep ends+on+God&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 14. William Shakespeare, Sonnet 151. From Aaron A. Morgan, ed., The Mind of Shakespeare as Exhibited In His Works (London, England; New York, NY: George Routledge & Son, 1876) p. 156. http://books.google.com/books?id=EhzPAAAAMAAJ&pg= PA156&dq=sonnet+151 +william+shakespeare+love+is+too+young#v=onepage&q= &f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 15. “Consciousness.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=consciousness&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 16. Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, Book III, Ch. 3. From Bernard Wall, transl., The Modern Earth (London, England: William Collins & Sons and New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, First Edition, 1959) pp. 213–232. 17. “Conscience.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=conscience&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009).


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18. Winston Churchill quote from Joel Weiss, ed., The Quotable Manager, Inspiration for Business & Life (Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith Publishing, First Edition, 2006) p. 173. Found on Google http://books.google.com/books?id=ftf60Z3fV14C&pg=PA 173&dq=by+Winston+Churchill+Courage+is+going+from+failure+to+failure#v=on epage&q=by%20Winston%20Churchill%20Courage%20is%20going%20from%20 failure%20to%20failure&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 19. “Courage.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=courage&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 20. “Courage.” Henry B. Woolf, ed., Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: G & C. Merriam Co., 1974 Edition) p. 261. 21. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 123, Article 5. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http:// www.newadvent.org and summa/3123.htm#article5 (accessed 10/16/2009). 22. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Article 3, Ans. 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061 .htm#article3 (accessed 10/16/2009). 23. “Consciousness.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=cardinal&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 24. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II, ch. 6. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html (accessed 10/16/2009). 25. Attribution to John A. Shedd. Fred Shapiro, ed., The Yale Book of Quotations (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006) p. 705. http://books.google.com/ books?id=w5-GR-qtgXsC&pg= PA705&dq=quotation+a+ship+in+a+harbor+is+sa fe,+but#v=onepage&q=quotation%20a%20ship%20in%20a%20harbor%20is%20 safe%2C%20but&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 26. Attributed to Freidrich Nietzsche. From Helen Granat, ed., Wisdom Through The Ages: A Collection of Favorite Quotations, Book III (Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 1998) p. 44. See also Quotationsbook.com athttp://quotationsbook.com/ quote/1085 (accessed 10/18/2009). 27. Revelation 5:5, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also Steven D. Moore and Janice C. Anderson, eds., New Testament Masculinities (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003) p. 97. Found on the Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/ books?id=Mys52UiCZYYC&pg=PA97&dq=The+Gospel+Of+Mark++the+lion+as+ symbol+to+depict+courage++%E2%80%9CThe+Lion+Of+Judah.%E2%80%9D#v =onepage&q=The%20Gospel%20Of%20Mark%20%20the%20lion%20as%20symbol%20to%20depict%20courage%20%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Lion%20Of%20 Judah.%E2%80%9D&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009).


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28. “Courtesy” and “Etiquette.” Lester Berry and Gorton Carruth, eds., Roget’s International Thesaurus (New York, NY: Thomas Crowell Co., Third Edition, 1956) pp. 605, 607, 422. 29. Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 30. “Courtesy” and “Court.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.phpsearch=courtesy&searchmode=none and http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=court&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 31. “Chivalry.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=chivalry&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 32. “Create.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=create&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 33. Genesis chapters 1–3, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 34. Ecclesiastes chapter 1, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 35. Attribution to Albert Einstein. From Jerry Mayer and John P. Holmes, eds. Bite-Sized Einstein Quotations (New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, 1996) p. 26. http://books.google.com/books?id=mkikSTtru_cC&pg=PA26&d q=never+lose+a+holy+curiosity+albert+einstein#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/16/2009). 36. Augustine, Confessions, Book X, ch. 3 & ch. 35. Found at the Catholicfirst website, http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/catholicclassics/staugustine/confessions10.cfm. See also Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 162, Article 4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3162.htm#article4 (both accessed 10/16/2009). 37. “Curious.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=curious&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 38. Socrates, Theaetus. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Benjamin Jowett, transl., The Portable Plato (New York, NY: Viking Press, 1994, First Edition, 1948). Found on the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/theatu.html (accessed 10/16/2009). 39. Genesis chapter 3, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970).


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DISCIPLINE The virtue of discipline is the ability to learn goodness through practice, patience, and perseverance. We train and develop our orientation to goodness in an orderly, practiced, and conscientious manner. It allows us to learn about and find moral improvement through exercising repeated and habitual patterns of good behavior. The word “discipline” comes from the Latin discere (to learn) and is rooted in the word “disciple” which describes a practicing follower of someone or something. In self-discipline we make a disciple of ourselves.1 Discipline as a power to do good means using our free will to control our passions, desires, appetites, tempers, vices, thoughts, actions, and behavior—to act on our environment instead of just reacting to it. Discipline is the dogged, consistent practice and pursuit of the good; it is also the dogged, consistent turning away from vice and not allowing ourselves to get into situations where we know we are weak. Discipline gives us the strength to choose reason over illicit desires. Discipline energizes us to do the little things we need to do on a daily basis in order to reach our worthy longer-term and life goals. With discipline, we improve ourselves and in the process reap genuine happiness. Without discipline, we follow the path of sloth and indolence and in the process reap lack of achievement and unhappiness. There is no short-cut to a life of virtue and goodness; these things simply can’t happen without discipline. If we are not disciplined in our thinking and our inner life, we will ultimately be disordered in our judgments and disoriented in our actions. The ancient practice of asceticism (from the Greek askesis, “exercise”) was concerned with the exercises that regulated the conflict between the spirit and the 51


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flesh. It involved self-control and discipline, but was balanced with the free acceptance of the self with its human limitations and weaknesses. Asceticism became an important component in building strong character. This is not to say that we should all become ascetics, only that we should be interested in a disciplined approach to virtue.2 Even great athletes, born with tremendous talent, must take on a regimen of discipline. It is tremendously important to have a holistic approach, as discipline is important to physical as well as mental well-being. In spiritual development, it is crucial, because to not grow and advance is only to go backward. The virtue of discipline is grounded in temperance, which is considered one of the four Cardinal Virtues. Temperance allows us to moderate and temper our desires, impulses, and passions in accordance with what is prescribed by reason and measured by the revelation of God.3 Discipline is also aligned with the virtues of perseverance and patience. It stands guard over many other virtues as well, allowing us to first learn about them and then exercise them habitually. With it, we can practice and live in accordance with goodness and then resist and control vice. The virtue of discipline makes practice, sometimes painful, but ultimately pleasurable. The following poem was written as I was daydreaming one day about one more disciplined than myself. The Discipline Of Day-Dreaming Day-dreaming, Soul-beaming, Me, not here nor there, Thought sailing, kite tailing, Not a worry, nor a care, Bird bobbing, time robbing, Semi- conscious, waking- slumber, Memory keeping, mountain leaping, Counting wealth beyond a number. Recalling past, tainting future, Painting destiny, whirling worlds, Skyward soaring, downward boring, Abyss a-deeping for oystered pearls. Enter guilt, day-dream tilts, Start to worry, start to fret, Things to do, and a few Obligations to be met. Juggling balls, returning calls, Time to scurry back to work, I have much responsibility, Many duties I can’t shirk.


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Then day-dream like a siren’s call whispers as she’s beckoning “Forget about your problems all There is no day of reckoning;” Back to dreamy fantasy Today and then tomorrow Beckons dread responsibility, Still time that I can borrow. As I day-dream more; Open heaven’s doorNo longer think of labor, I see angels dance, Then by chance, See Jesus on Mount Tabor. “Lord, forget the cross, that ugly tree Can’t we sit here fantasizing?” “You must seize the dream,” says He, “Hence, no cross, no rising.”

DISCRETION “Discretion is the better part of valor.” —William Shakespeare4

Discretion is that virtue which allows one to deliberate well by separating, distinguishing, or discerning, then ultimately making a good and responsible decision. The word comes to us from the Latin discretio, “discern” or “distinguish.”5 Discretion empowers us with the ability to find the golden mean, the virtue of courage, and not deviate either to the vice of deficiency (cowardice) or the vice of excess (recklessness).6 Discretion is closed related to the Cardinal Virtue of prudence, since it takes prudence to distinguish, discern, deliberate, and decide well. Discretion perfects reason and is a salt which preserves life. For example, when Shakespeare writes in Henry IV that “discretion is the better part of valor,” he is implying that the discreet person will possess the ability to distinguish between the virtue of courage and the vices of cowardice and recklessness in making a decision. The Book of Proverbs, one of the Wisdom Books in the Bible, is an excellent resource for learning how to apply discretion. Proverbs 2:11 says, “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.” The word “discretion” translates the Hebrew word mezimah, or “good sense.”7 The


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Bible is telling us that the prudent and discreet person will employ good sense in carrying out the affairs of everyday life. This person will have the good sense to distinguish when to speak and when to be silent, to decide when and how to act, and when it is good to do nothing. You can picture discretion as the safety guardrail on the highway of life. The prudent person will exercise discretion every day, will avoid making rash judgments and will learn from his or her own mistakes as well as others’. This person will be a road maker, not just a map reader. He or she will not simply follow the crowd in making decisions. Discretion manifests in words and deeds. Its presence gives testimony to a person’s inward life of prayer to God for wisdom and the power to do what is good. The Bible’s wisdom literature portrays discretion as a wise woman giving good counsel. Here’s a poem along those same lines. Dame Discretion Safety guardrail Protecting life’s ride Deliberate, distinguish Discern, decide Perfector of reason Guiding each day Proverbial lantern Lighting the way Be wisely cautious Avoid being rash Life is a marathon No hundred yard dash Learn how to listen Not to react Where to be silent Or speak with tact When to respond What you should do Which direction Is better for you Learn from mistakes Employ good sense Seek God’s lead Pray for prudence


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NOTES 1. “Discipline.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=discipline&searchmode=none (accessed 10/16/2009). 2. “Asceticism” and “Ascetical theology.” From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/ cathen/01767c.htm also the New Advent Website at http://www.newadvent.org/ cathen/14613a.htm (accessed 10/16/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 62, Article I, Reply to obj. 2. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/4089.htm#article1 (accessed 10/16/2009). 4. William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Act V, sc. 4. From Henry Irving, Frank A. Modell and Edward Dowden, eds., The Works of William Shakespeare, Volume III (New York, NY: Scribner & Welford, 1890), p. 384. Found on the Googlebooks. com website at http://books.google.com /books ?id=XSjPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA384 &dq=discretion+is+the+better+part+of+valor+King+Henry+IV,+Part+1,+Falstaff,+ William+Shakespeare#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/17/2009). 5. “Discretion.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=discretion&searchmode=none (accessed 10/17/2009). 6. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II, Sec. 6. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.2.ii.html (accessed 10/17/2009). 7. Proverbs 2:11, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also comments on Proverbs chapter 29 in Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds., Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) pp. 495–505.


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Chapter Nine

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EMPATHY Our word “empathy” is taken from the Greek empatheia, “feeling passion.”1 The virtue of empathy is the identification with, or a sensitivity to, the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. It is essentially a sharing in the experience of another’s physical and emotional humanity. Empathy can also ascribe to an object, such as a painting, poem, play, or allegory, the imaginative good or bad feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself. With the virtue of empathy, one intuits the physical feelings and inner emotions of another. The capability to recognize emotions can sometimes be achieved on a purely unconscious level. However, it can also become a virtue by becoming habitual as we train ourselves to become empathetic and develop its usage over time with a certain degree of accuracy. Empathy also allows us to recognize that good or bad feelings, thoughts, or attitudes are not simply personal, they are universal. The distinction between the virtue of empathy and sympathy is often confusing. Both empathy and sympathy are feelings concerning other people. Sympathy is “feeling with,” having compassion for or commiserating with another person; with sympathy, you have similar feelings or emotions. Empathy, by contrast, is the ability to project your own sensibilities onto another person’s experience in such a way that you more fully recognize the feelings or emotions of that person even though you may not have that specific experience or those specific feelings or emotions at that particular point in time. Aristotle first described the human affinity for imitation. He maintained that, from childhood, imitation became the primary method of learning.2 The human capacity to utilize empathy as a virtue is carried out by recognizing the bodily feelings and inner emotions of another through the use of one’s 56


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imitative capacities. To increase empathy, we might develop habits whereby we pay close attention to others’ facial expressions, body language, and tones of voice in order to better grasp how they might feel. Empathy will allow us to gauge and imitate within ourselves some aspects of their emotions. In exercising this virtue, one essentially “walks in someone else shoes.” However, because empathy may be used for compassionate or cruel behavior, it can be either a virtue or a vice. To be a virtue, empathy requires more than simply recognizing another’s emotions or feelings. With empathy we first say, “I recognize how you feel.” It can then become aligned with the virtues of love and compassion: “I care how you feel; how can I help?” or become aligned with the vice of apathy: “I don’t care how you feel.” As a virtue, empathy is grounded in the Cardinal Virtue of justice as it empowers us to become more sensitive to the rights and needs of others and our own duties regarding others’ emotional and physical well-being.3 Surfacing Reminders In another face I see your face And mine. In other acts of love, I’m reminded of your love For me- my love for you. In the happiness of Another’s good fortune, I find myself being glad. In the agony and weeping that Surrounds another’s bad fortune, I feel their pain, And cry for them-with them; I also know I weep for me. I’m reminded then of my Faith in God’s Providence And the hope of love That faith creates. I do believe that love Will be there for me As all there is in the end. With each new birth, I see a welcoming of God’s Continuing presence in the world. With each dying, There is a reminder of human duration and


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Its passing character; I’m reminded of My own temporal death At its intersection with Eternity. I am learning to accept my death As inevitable, and something I must face. What I cannot bear yet, is To see death in your face. If I must, then I will Remind God, Of His promise To give me the grace.

ENTHUSIASM “Enthusiasm” (Greek: enthousiazein) means “to be inspired.” The root of this Greek verb pulls together two words, en and theos, which mean “in God.”4 Enthusiasm is the virtue of being inspired oneself or being the vehicle to inspire others. With this virtue a person develops a true zeal for goodness—pursuing goodness and all virtue with wholeheartedness, absorbed interest, and ardent attachment. It becomes the mother who gives birth to all good effort. Because enthusiastic people are full of spirit, they create an atmosphere of excitement, exuberance, fervor, and passion. It is contagious and people who manifest it are the carriers. This virtue brings an animating, enlivening, and motivating presence to all virtue as one is essentially impelled by the spirit of God and a love of goodness. It was the poet Ovid who said long ago, “There is a deity within us who breathes that divine fire by which we are animated.”5 Virtuous enthusiasm signifies that the Spirit of God and goodness are within us, inspiring us. Hope often sparks enthusiasm; love fans it into flames. But unless enthusiasm is balanced by the virtue of prudence, enthusiasm can burn like a destructive wildfire. Untempered, enthusiasm becomes vice, blinding us to obstacles and objections and making us insensitive or impatient with others who are less enthusiastic, yet still on the path to God and goodness. The poet William Cowper said, “No wild enthusiast could ever rest, til half mankind were like him possessed.”6 All enthusiasm depends on in-spirit-ization. As spirit-guidance, it can move us toward things that are spiritually profitable or toward things that are spiritually harmful. Holy Spirit enthusiasm gets people excited about honoring God, goodness, and what God wants us to do in the world. But there is


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much competition for our hearts; many other spirits seek to inspire people to pursue less worthy ideals, causes, or sins. Therefore, enthusiasm cannot happen without inspiration, but inspiration cannot be virtuous unless it comes from the Spirit of God. Only the Holy Spirit working in us can truly inspire us to become enthusiastic about goodness and all other virtue. If virtue is “the power to do good,” then the Holy Spirit motivating and empowering us is something to get really excited and enthusiastic about! Finally, enthusiasm is an important virtue because of its impact on every other virtue. When the virtue of enthusiasm begins to wane, all virtue will begin to diminish. It is time to then look for inspiration and when we find it, or it finds us, there we will recover our enthusiasm. The following poem came upon me one day when I was reflecting and meditating on being enthusiastic. Inspiration First breaths Air anew From depths Thank you God surprising Phoenix rising Newly found Thoughts abound Roll around Idea bound Mental orgasm Emits enthusiasm Heavenly sent Spiritually pregnant

NOTES 1. “Empathy.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com /index.php?search=empathy&searchmode=none(acces sed 10/17/2009). 2. Aristotle, Poetics, Sec. 114. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed. and S. H. Butcher, transl., Poetics And Rhetoric (New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2006). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics. mb.txt (accessed 10/17/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Questions 58 & 61. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/3058.htm#article1 at http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/2061.htm#article1 (accessed 10/17/2009).


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4. “Enthusiasm.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=enthusiasm&searchmode=none (accessed 10/17/2009). 5. Attributed to Ovid. From James Wood, ed., Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English (London, England and New York, NY: Frederick Warne & Co., 1893) p. 469. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google .com/books?id=Zf83AAAAIAAJ&pg= PA469&dq=by+Ovid+There+is+a+deity+w ithin+us+who+breathes+that+divine+fire+by+which+we+are+animated#v=onepage &q=&f=false (accessed 10/17/2009). 6. William Cowper, Poems, Volume I, “The Progress of Error.” From James Croft, ed., The Poetical Works of William Cowper (New York, NY: S. King, 1825) p. 51 Found atGooglebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?PA51&dq=the+poems+o f+william+cowper+No+wild+enthusiast+could+ever+rest,+til+half+mankind+were +like+him+possessed&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/17/2009).


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FAITH In its etymology, the word “faithfulness” came into our language from the Latin fidelitas, translated as “faithfulness, adherence, fidelity.”1 The word describes the quality of character of one who can be trusted and relied upon. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word emunah is rendered into English by words like faithful, faithfully, truth, and stability. The ancient Hebrews’ understanding of emunah described a person who lived in accordance with justice and righteousness; it was less about correctly stating one’s theological beliefs and more about living in the truth. As the prophet Habakkuk said, “The just man lives by faith.”2 Faithfulness, then, combined steadfast love, justice, trust, confidence, and faith in the midst of trials and tribulation. In the New Testament, Christian faith (Greek: pistis) cannot be separated from faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. As Paul says, “If Christ is not raised then your faith is useless” (1 Cor 15:17). Faith begins with hearing the gospel (akoe); becomes active in hope, love and practice; and is completed in personal commitment and obedience (hypakoe). Christian faith could be described as faithfulness as well. Faithfulness is part of the nine-fold cluster of the fruit of the spirit of love, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22–23). Faithfulness is also aligned with the virtues of reliability, perseverance, trustworthiness, obedience, and loyalty. Faithfulness is particularly centered on our relationship with God and with others as well as our orientation to goodness. It not only relates to one’s faith in God, but also to any oath, tie, vow, or promise to another person, particularly in matters of love (marriage for example). 61


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Faith typically emphasizes an inner disposition toward God, goodness, or another person. Along with hope and love, it is considered to be one of the three Theological Virtues, in that they are infused as goodness by the grace of God.3 As a virtue, faith perfects the intellect. Faith implies trust; keeping faith means being trustworthy. Someone who has faith relies upon God or another person in some way. Faithfulness, on the other hand, emphasizes that the inner dispositions of faith and trust are expressed and practiced in a characteristic set of outward loving actions. Thomas Aquinas said, “Faith has the character of a virtue, not because of the things it believes, for faith is of things that appear not, but because it adheres to the testimony of one in whom truth is infallibly found.”4 He also maintained that “faithfulness whereby a man’s acts agree with his words is contained in ‘truthfulness’ as to the observance of one’s promises: yet ‘truthfulness’ covers a wider ground.”5 So, we could say that faithfulness is the assent of the intellect plus the movement of the will to the truth of faith through God’s grace working out in loving outward actions toward God and others. As a virtue, then, faith is never a matter of mere words; it must be incorporated into practice. We are told in the Scriptures that “faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26) It is essentially, and must always be, performative. With this virtue, our practice should conform to the words, promises, and intentions of our faith. A faithful person doesn’t leave missions of goodness half-started; he or she stays committed and fights the good fight until the task is finished. On the other hand, we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. We must also take into account our own human limitations and weaknesses. This virtue like many others needs to be balanced with the virtues of prudence, temperance, discretion, humility, and humor. God has always been known as a God of faithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:9), as were his servants. Moses was faithful and Jesus was faithful unto death on the cross. Their faith was performative. In addition to being a strong Judeo-Christian virtue, faithfulness is considered an important virtue in other religions. In his Analects, Confucius refers to the virtue of faithfulness as xin, one of the five virtues necessary to live a healthy and harmonious life.6 In my own faith journey, when I want to talk to God, I head to the sea. There I feel closest to God because the sea is a lifeforce much larger than my own. The sea is timeless; it has rhythms which seems to resonate with my faith life. The tides faithfully return to the shore every day. The sea has moods like me. It can be peaceful; it can be turbulent, even fraught with uncertainty. What I see on the surface is no indication of what is going on below. The sea has a way of always cleansing my thoughts and taking me to a place deep within, so that there, in faith, I can talk to God and God can talk to me.


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Come to the Sea On the shore I wait, As God calls; Like a droplet of rain; I am absorbed By the sea. I watch it wave As it greets me. It comes and goes; So restless. Like me, Following an eternal law; So obedient, Unlike me. I hear music In its roar, Smell its saltiness, Filled with mystery; I am awestruck. As it meets the horizon, Descending from the clouds, It becomes for me, A vast pool of infinite wisdom; A glorious mirror, Glassing eternity. So wide; Can God’s mercy Be wider? So deep; Is God’s love As fathomless? But the sea, Like me, Can be unforgiving; Sometime shallow. In the surging surf, I envision Poseidon, Chasing after Odysseus. I then acknowledge my Human limitations. To my God, Who once said, “I Am Who I Am”


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Unlike Odysseus I am no hero, I am who I am. All I see is What I see and All I can do Is still search For you while You search for me By the sea.

FLEXIBILITY “Flexibility” came into our language from the Latin flexibilis meaning “being bent or pliant.”7 Flexibility is the virtue of being adaptable and having the openness to change to suit circumstances; the ability to be easily bent or shaped. Flexibility produces elasticity; it is the inverse of stiffness. The father of Taoism, Laotse, wrote, “Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.”8 If you possess the virtue of flexibility you will be open to change and have the ability to deal effectively with the stresses and strains of life. You will consider others’ ideas and feelings and not insist on your own way; you will explore new and creative ways to get things done. This virtue empowers you to get rid of bad habits and gives you the ability to learn new good habits. One must be careful, however, because there is a line you can cross, where you go beyond flexibility and cross over into being wishy-washy or blown around like a feather in the first strong wind. Just as in a physical sense, exercise and training can increase the amount of flexibility in bone joints, while decreasing the amount of pain and resistance, so too, can a desire to be more flexible in our human growth and development begin to reduce the rigidity, tenseness, and stiffness in our lives. We will develop more resilience and the ability to bounce back and begin to absorb the vicissitudes of life. Trees, like people, also have their own destinies; they are a life force. The survival of each tree depends on its sturdiness. This sturdiness must be balanced with a developed flexibility. The sturdy Oak is not flexible and can break in a fierce storm, while the Willow bends and bounces back from the force of a steady wind.


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If we become unyielding like the oak, life will break us down, but if we seek to become more flexible like the willow we can bend with the winds of change and destiny. When we are open to change and develop a willingness to be taught by others, we will begin to see tremendous growth in our personhood. We will begin to grow, not only in the virtue of flexibility, but in wisdom and knowledge as well. We will be a new creation. Flexibility EN BD STTRETTTCH TWI8T & TURn The more you unknow The more you’ll learn Don’t be rigid Resistant and tense Be open to change If it makes sense Be supple and yielding Not brittle and dry Be tender and pliant Adapt or die Become more elastic Bounce like a ball You’ll be more resilient When you hit a wall Pray that the Great Potter Will mold you like clay Become a new person Beginning today

FORGIVENESS “An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind.” —Mahatma Gandhi9

The virtue of forgiveness can be described as “ceasing to feel anger, resentment, or bitterness towards a person for a perceived offense.” It is giving


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someone another chance after they have done something wrong. It is also the foregoing of seeking punishment or restitution. Forgiveness is the path to more happiness in life and is one of the most difficult of all virtues to practice. I speak, of course, from personal experience, as there are a few people in my life whom I have found it hard to forgive. The road to reconciliation has been a rocky one. I always wonder if I have forgiven some of them 100 percent. I remember a friend of mine making this statement about a relative who offended him, “I’ve forgiven her, but I haven’t forgotten.” One wonders if there really is total forgiveness in that particular relationship. I don’t think so. Real and heartfelt forgiveness can’t change the past, but it certainly can make the future look a lot brighter. The virtue of forgiveness may lead to reconciliation. However, the two are not the same. Forgiveness can often occur without reconciliation. It takes one person to forgive; it takes at least two people to reconcile. One of the parties may not recognize any responsibility in what happened or may not want reconciliation. We are still responsible for our own actions in practicing the virtue of forgiveness. Besides, very often today forgiveness occurs when the person doing the forgiving is alive and the person being forgiven is dead. When both people are alive, for reconciliation to occur, there may need to be some form of dialogue, acknowledgment, restitution, or apology offered following the act of forgiveness. It is usually easier for the offended to forgive than for the offender to ask forgiveness. An ancient Hebrew saying says, “Because God understands everything and everyone, God can forgive everything and everyone.”10 Taking things a bit further, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “. . . and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”11 I believe Jesus is saying that since the people of God are a forgiven people, they must in turn forgive one another. If we refuse to forgive someone because of our perceived sense of offended justice, then we should rethink our views about forgiveness and justice as well. Our God may be too small. Forgiveness is seen by some as a sign of weakness, but it takes a very strong person to practice this virtue. It is that strong quality of a person’s character and their practice of forgiving that enables life to be lived well and happily. Because a virtue has been defined as “the power to do good,” it should follow that if we find this virtue the most difficult to practice, it is also that virtue which could ultimately bring about the greatest good and the greatest happiness in our lives. Forgiveness is a lot easier for me to talk about than it is to practice. In this regard, it might do us some good to remember the wise saying of comedian Buddy Hackett who once said, “Don’t carry a grudge; while you’re carrying the grudge, the other guy is out dancing.”12


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Body Language Admitting that you hurt me yesterday Is now the second biggest problem Going on inside of me. Today, I’m asking myself, What is it within me That wants to find words To hurt you back? Not punch you in the nose To make you bleed, But, to pummel you, The way you injured me, Bruising you with my tongue. After all the bible does say, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth!” But, God, that’s so Old Testament, And all this time, I thought I was supposed To be a new creation. Not prone to anger; But, to forgive like God, To turn the other cheek. Alas, my head won’t budge; Lord, please talk to The ears of my heart.

FRIENDLINESS “The best mirror is an old friend.” —Anonymous

Our word “friend” comes from the Old English freond which means “to love and to favor.”13 A friendly person has a general positive regard for others, is open to meeting new people, enjoys the company of others, and is capable of moving from acquaintance to deeper relationships. The virtue of friendliness implies liking or even loving others as they are (created in the image of God, but imperfect human beings) and involves the ability to establish mutual esteem, trust and loyalty. A friend will stick with you when you’re at your worst or during times of crisis. The virtue of friendliness puts up with the scuffles


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and quarrels that so often happen between people. It urges us to not give up on relationships. In his marvelous book, the Four Loves, C. S. Lewis makes reference to how the ancients held friendship in such high regard as a virtue.14 As an example of this, in his Ethics Aristotle considered friendship as a vital element in the good life, for without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods. Aristotle distinguished between three kinds of friendships. First, friendships can be based upon the pleasure of two people discovering that they have common interest in an activity they can pursue together. Participation in that activity results in greater pleasure for each and greater appreciation of the other’s company. Second, friendships can be grounded in practical utility arising from mutually beneficial and coordinated activity. In this case, the focus is on what the two can derive from each other. Third are friendships devoted to the good. These relationships are far more virtuous than the first two. In this type of friendship, two people engage in common activities solely for the sake of developing the overall goodness of the other. Here neither pleasure nor utility are relevant, because at the center of this virtuous relationship is concern for the goodness of the other.15 Aristotle wrote, “The perfect friendship is that which is on account of virtue.” He goes on to say that this true notion of friendship presupposes virtue. It takes good people to make good friends.16 Aquinas often referred to the virtue of friendliness as “affability.” To friendliness Aquinas assigned a special status. He quotes the biblical writer Sirach, “Make thyself affable to the congregation of the poor.” (Sirach 4:7) Aquinas maintained that since virtue in general is directed to the general good, special kinds of good need special kinds of virtues. Also, since good consists in order (not disorder), it behooves us to behave towards one another in a becoming manner. Hence the need of a special virtue that maintains becomingness—and this virtue is friendliness. Consequently, Aquinas saw friendliness as a special virtue flowing out of the Cardinal Virtue of justice because it was directed toward the good (order) of another person. He believed that friendliness fell just short of justice.17 Friendliness and justice are linked to each other and to communal life. As such, friendliness is an important virtue in Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity. In Judaism, the one who practices friendliness is mindful of the conditions and feelings of others in the community of faith, as well as those outside. In Buddhism, the one who practices friendliness is mindful of the conditions and feelings of all living things, human and non-human.18 In Christianity, Jesus calls “my friends” those who do what he commands (John 15:14–15), namely to love God fully, and one’s neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37–39).


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Because of their friendly temperament, dogs have been called “man’s best friend.” In fact, a friend once told me, “The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.” I think I understand what he meant. We can learn a lot about friendliness as a human virtue merely by observing the behavior of dogs. How The Dog Got Its Name Long ago, ’fore earth be formed, Life was lived beyond the pale, As story goes, Not everyone knows, This involves a “tale.” ’Twas the sixth day of creation, God was in a rush, His fine-tuned plan, The project, “man” Needed concentration,—HUSH! The last to creep upon the ground, ’Fore making man, the male, ’Twas dog, it’s said, But, how ‘twas bred, This involves a “tail.” From bark to wag, God’s order went, Bustling to and fro, Job mostly done, Dogs—every one, But perfection? Not exactly—No. One tiny goof, Not with the woof, This involves “de-tail.” Wrong tails were placed On all the dogs, From old to youngest pup, Too late—it’s fate, What be—will be, Friend to man, Must fill thy cup. When dogs now meet, You’ll notice how;


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They sniff each other’s rears, They smell around, In hopes to found, Tails missed throughout the years. To compensate for best friend’s fate, God made them none the worse, For they be named, And not be shamed, Given God’s name in reverse.

NOTES 1. “Faithfulness.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=faithfulness&searchmode=none (accessed 10/17/2009). 2. Habakkuk 2:4, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Theological Virtues, Question 62, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent .org/summa/2062.htm#article1 (accessed 10/17/2009). 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa de Veritate, XIV, 8, Motives of Credibility, section d. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/ cathen/05752c.htm (accessed 10/17/2009). 5. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Theological Virtues, Question 80, Reply to Objection 3. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CDROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See http://www .newadvent.org/summa/3080.htm (accessed 10/17/2009). 6. Confucius, The Analects with translation by Lin Yu (Hong Kong, China: Confucius Publishing, CD-ROM, 2009). Found at Confucius.org http://www.confucius. org/lunyu/lange.htm See also, Confucius, Xin, “Faithfulness” (Shanghai, China: Shanghai News and Press Bureau, 2009). Found at the Cultural-China.com website at http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/ 43History1797.html (accessed 10/17/2009). 7. “Flexible.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=flexible&searchmode=none (accessed 10/17/2009). 8. Laotse, (also Lao Tzu), Tao Te Ching (also I Ching), Book VII, Aphorism 76. From Lin Yutang, ed., transl., The Wisdom of Laotse (New York, NY: Random House, 1948) p.305. 9. Attributed to Mohandes Gandhi. From Fred Shapiro, ed., Yale Book of Quotations (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006) p. 269. The Yale Book of Quotations reports that the Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence states that the Gandhi family


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believes that it is an authentic Gandhi quotation, but no authentication of its use by the Indian leader has ever been discovered. There are several books on the life of Gandhi which attribute the quote to him, but none authored by Gandhi himself which document the quote. Found at http://books.google.com/books?id=w5-GR-qtgXsC &pg=PA269&dq=quotation+An+eye+for+an+eye+only+makes+the+whole+world+ blind+Ghandi#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/17/2009). 10. Exodus 17; Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 1:18, 43:25–26, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). See also, “Forgiveness of Yahweh” in Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds., Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) pp. 251, 257, 262, 368, 594, 758–759. 11. Matthew 6:12, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 12. Attributed to Buddy Hackett. From Bob Kelly, ed., Worth Repeating: More Than 5000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes, “Grudges,” (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2003) p.160. Found at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/ books?id=W7p1ZQbZuVsC&pg= PA160&dq=quotation+Buddy+Hackett+Don% E2%80%99t+carry+a+grudge&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/17/2009). 13. “Friend.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=friend&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 14. C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1960) p. 57. Found at http://books.google.com/books?id=JXMiD5e90mUC&pg=PA57&d q=C.+S.+Lewis,+Four+Loves+To+the+Ancients,+friendship+seemed+the+happiest +and+most+fully+human+of+all+loves,++the+crown+of+life+and+the+school+of+ virtue.#v=onepage&q=&f=false(accessed 10/19/2009). 15. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book VIII, Sec. 1–14. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http:// classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.8.viii.html (accessed 10/19/2009). 16. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book VIII, Sec. 3–4. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http:// classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.8.viii.html (accessed 10/19/2009). 17. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Questions 114, Articles 1 & 2, Question 80, Article 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CDROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3114.htm#article1 and also see New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3080.htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 18. “Friendship.” From Peggy Morgan and Clive A. Lawton, eds., Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions, “Buddhism” (Edinburgh, Great Britain: Edinburgh University Press, First Edition, 1996) p.69. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books. google.com /books?id=NM8a6x3ykTMC&pg=PA69&dq=friendship+compassion,+ joy+and+equanimity+Buddhism#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/19/2009).


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GENEROSITY “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —(Mt 6:21)

The virtue of generosity is having the willingness to share freely, without the idea of receiving something in return. It can only be cultivated in freedom because there is no virtue in any compulsory act. When you are generous, you find ways to freely give others happiness, and give just for the joy of giving. Generosity, as a virtue, is rooted in love and is that virtue which can go on mirroring itself exponentially. Nothing multiplies so much as the virtue of generosity. In its etymology, the word “generosity” came into our language from the Latin generosus which originally meant “highborn.” It then evolved to describe a person with a noble spirit. Eventually it came to mean one who exhibits liberality in the spirit and act of giving.1 As Creator of the heavens and earth, God “generates.”2 Consequently, God is the first model of true generosity. And because we are created in the image and likeness of God, generosity as a virtue resonates in the deepest recesses of our humanity. The highest gift any of us can give to another person is not some thing, but the gift of ourselves. Giving ourselves epitomizes the virtue of generosity. Sharing our talents, intelligence, love and time are often more precious than giving any sum of money. As Americans, we are a seemingly generous people. As the richest society on the planet we donate over $200 billion every year to churches, schools, hospitals, environmental groups, and the Arts. However, most of us give out 72


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of our surplus and not out of our need. Our lifestyle doesn’t change one iota because of the amount we give. By the true definition of the word then, we give, but would not be considered generous. Many others of us live our lives today like we will never die. We seem to believe that when we do, we’ll take all our possessions with us. Generosity then, is a virtue recognized by the spiritually rich and selfpossessed; greed is a vice often unrecognized by the materially rich and dispossessed. In the final analysis, generosity is loving self-sacrifice and not simply giving. “God loves a cheerful giver.”3 The heart of the person who gives, not the gift, ultimately defines true generosity. Generosity By God The poor are sent So what we give To God is lent Tis’ giver’s heart Not the gifting Soul’s fertility God is sifting Bread cast on waters Returns with the tide Love buoys generosity Greed sinks in pride A man was generous They called him mad But, the more he gave The more he had

GENTLENESS Gentleness is a virtue that is seen as one of the aspects of the fruit of the spirit of love (Galatians 5:22). Sometimes called meekeness, it springs from the love in a good heart and can be seen as a kind of sweet reasonableness. Gentle people develop habits of mild manners, calm dispositions, tender feelings, and speaking kind words. They are docile, yielding, and free from harshness, anger, contention, and violent behavior. Their behavior is moderated by right reason. The virtue of gentleness is rooted in the Cardinal Virtue of temperance4 and is aligned with the virtues of patience, kindness, courtesy, compassion, and humility. Aristotle believed that gentleness was one of ten Moral Virtues


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which controlled the passions.5 In his Summa, Aquinas stated that gentleness could be “destroyed by anger” and it is “what makes a man self-possessed.”6 As a virtue, gentleness allows us to subdue our own passions and emotions, while bearing with the passions and emotions of others. It is far more than just simple human niceness or politeness. Gentle people have learned to be tactful; they tell the truth kindly and are very considerate of how their words and actions affect others. They think before they speak and sometimes believe that certain things are better left unsaid. The virtue of gentleness gives one the ability to make a point without making an enemy. People who develop gentle habits are also good listeners. They build bridges and are very sensitive to avoid giving offense. They believe there is truth in the old saw that “a spoon full of honey will attract more flies than a gallon of vinegar.”7 Expressing the virtue of truthfulness should most often involve the virtue of gentleness. The virtue of truthfulness can be received as an unloving gesture when it is expressed without this particular virtue. It also takes the strength found in the Cardinal Virtue of courage to be gentle. Gentleness is not weakness; it is strength under control. Francis De sales has said, “Nothing is as strong as gentleness; nothing is so gentle as real strength.”8 Pride is seen by many as far more of a virtue than a vice today. It has been redefined and glamorized by sports personalities, celebrities, politicians, business icons, and entertainers. Far more attention and emphasis is given to pride today than to the virtue of gentleness. Our society judges gentleness as wimpishness, particularly in males. Yet the most significant person who ever lived was a gentle and meek man, who said, “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” (Matthew 11:29) Looking to Jesus, we find that gentleness is part of the very nature of God. True gentleness draws its power and strength from Christ’s virtue and character. Gentleness Fresh fruit of love From tender tree High hanging Docile delicacy Rooted in temperance Watered by grace Sunlit disposition Smile-seeded face Nothing so strong As gentleness So-so Sweet Reasonableness


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Child of Patience Humble meekness Kindred of mild Free from harshness Gentle is hard To find Hiding behind Gentle rocks!

GRATITUDE “O Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!” —William Shakespeare9

The word “gratitude” came into our language from the Latin gratus meaning “grace.”10 Gratitude is the virtue of being thankful for a benefit received. Thankfulness multiplied actually creates goodness. And when grace is made manifest in people through the virtues, God is present. To be grateful is to be graceful or grace-filled. We respond to God’s theological grace toward us (Ephesians 2:8,9) with joyful thanks and grateful obedience. We “say grace” before meals, prayerfully acknowledging God’s provision for our daily needs. We participate in the Eucharist (the “Great Thanksgiving”), communally expresses our corporate gratefulness to the greatness of God in salvation. The virtue of gratitude is the homage of the heart; we might even take a little liberty and say that God dwells more in a thankful heart just as much as God dwells in heaven. The Roman philosopher Cicero called gratitude, “the mother of all virtues.”11 Thomas Aquinas maintained that the virtue of gratitude was rooted in love and flowed from the Cardinal Virtue of justice.12 Jesus told a parable (Luke 7:36–50) about two men with two debts, one that was huge and one that was comparatively little. A creditor canceled both of their debts. Jesus then asked the people listening, which debtor would love the forgiver more? The greater the debt that has been paid, the more gratefulness (and love) is due. The vice of ingratitude has its root in selfish pride. Prideful people are not known for their gratefulness! Modern psychological research has shown that a grateful person is often a happier person, enjoying emotional and spiritual well-being. It’s not the happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratitude that makes us happy. To be grateful is to be blessed and to be blessed is to be happy. We shouldn’t just experience gratitude at Thanksgiving time or when we are on top of the mountains of life, but in the valleys as well—even when we feel like we’ve been thrown, screaming, off the cliffs of life. It might just be


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a little more difficult to be thankful at that exact moment. Prayer, reflection, and contemplation often help us to see the lessons we are learning and can bring out the gratitude even in hard times. When we consciously choose to be grateful, even in the most adverse circumstances, our ability to see the goodness and the grace in life is strengthened. We should express gratitude for the present moment because we can find God in the present moment. We should be thankful even for all the ordinariness that life can bring each day. A recurring theme on the virtue of gratitude, which is expressed throughout the New Testament, is that our disposition before God should be one in which we are thankful to the extent that we are “overflowing with gratitude.”13 We should also be thankful for the people in our lives. God put them right there in front of us for a reason. We should appreciate them and give thanks for their unique personhood and talents. I feel blessed to live in America all year round, but my gratitude manifests itself particularly during the Thanksgiving season. Although we have a lot to be thankful for as Americans, we should never forget that the rest of the world doesn’t live like us and some people have barely enough food or water to survive each day. Several years ago, around Thanksgiving time, my wife Terri and I made a pilgrimage to the tiny country of Haiti to assist the missionaries living there among the poor. Haiti lies just a few miles off the Florida coast, but the people there live a world apart from the way we live here in America; it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I wrote a poem about my Thanksgiving experience in Haiti years ago because I could not find the words to talk about the experience any other way. Thanksgiving Epiphany My heart is filled with Thanksgiving, With the grace of a gifted birth, Overflowing with gratitude for living, In the greatest country on earth. The American dream, a fable, Cornucopian, in every sense, Turkey on everyone’s table, Except beyond the American fence. This time of year I remember Those not as fortunate as we, I observed them one November, On a pilgrimage to tiny Haiti. They won’t be eating turkey; Enjoying a Thanksgiving feast, No celebration of gluttony, For the poorest and the least.


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Because I live with a surplus, The multitudes live with less, Being thankful for my excess; A tragic sin, I must confess. My sacrifice is not required, God wants mercy so much more, A heart, thankfully inspired, Attuned to the cry of the poor. Brothers; sisters going hungry, Thanksgiving, just one more day, “You did for them, You did for me” At the judgment, God will say. Thanksgiving—my favorite holiday, A thoroughly American event, The world’s poor, God’s epiphany, “Emmanuel, God-eternally present.”

NOTES 1. “Generous.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=generous&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 2. Genesis chapters 1–3, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 3. 2 Corinthians 9:7, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 141, Articles 1–8, Question 61, Articles 1–5. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009).See also New Advent at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3141. htm#article1 and http://www .newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 5. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Books III, IV, & V. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads. com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit .edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.mb.txt (Accessed 10/19/2009). 6. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 60, Article 2, Answer 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3060 .htm#article2 (Accessed 10/19/2009). 7. Benjamin Franklin. Poor Richard’s Almanac. From Paul L. Ford, ed., The Prefaces, Proverbs, & Poems of Benjamin Franklin (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1889) p. 146. Originally printed in Poor Richard’s Almanacs, 1733–1758. Found on the Internet Archives.org website at http://www.archive.org/stream/prefaces proverbs00fran/prefacesproverbs00fran_djvu.txt (accessed 10/19/2009).


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8. Attributed to Francis de Sales. From Jean Pierre Camus, ed. and transl., The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales (London, England: Rivinglons Press, First Edition, 1880) p. 11. Found at Google http://books.google.com/books?id=6QsDAAAA QAAJ&pg=PA11&dq=francis+de+sales+nothing+is+as+strong+as+gentleness#v= onepage&q=francis%20de%20sales%20nothing%20is%20as%20strong%20as%20 gentleness&f=false (accessed 10/19/2009). 9. William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Act I, sc.1. From Samuel Weller Singer, ed., The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, Vol. VI, pt. 1–3 (London, England: Bell & Daldy, First Edition 1856) p.124. http://books.google.com/books?id=A3YLAQAAIA AJ&pg=PA124&dq=Henry+VI+act+I+sc.1+O+Lord+that+lends+me+life,+lend+me+ a+heart+replete+with+thankfulness++William+Shakespeare#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/19/2009). 10. “Gratitude.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=gratitude&searchmode=none (Accessed 10/19/2009). 11. Marcus Tulius Cicero, Treatises On Friendship and Old Age, “Letter to Laelius.” From Henry C. Johnson, ed., Elementary Classics, Part One (New York, NY: Macmillan & Co., 1913). See also The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook website at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall /ancient/cicero-friendship.html (accessed 10/20/2009). 12. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 80, Article 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent Intl, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.new advent.org/summa/3080.htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 13. Colossians 2:6–7; 1 Peter 1:18, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970).


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HOLINESS Holiness is related to the word wholeness. Our word “holiness” derives from the Greek holos meaning “whole, entire, or total” and the Latin sanctus meaning “sanctified, whole or intact, what cannot be transgressed or violated.”1 Going back even further in time, holiness is strongly related to two Hebrew words: shalom (“peace”) and kadosh (“sacred place”). Shalom is an expansive term, meaning peace, wholeness, and well-being.2 One of the meanings of the word kadosh is “sacred place.” We see the word kadosh in the naming of Kadesh Barnea, an oasis and a sacred place in the desert that became a key way-station for the Israelites in the Exodus. Kadosh would expand in meaning to include loftiness, mysteriousness, awesomeness, ferventness and righteousness; the word is applied to God the Holy One, the Israelites, the prophets of Israel, the Sabbath, the sacrifices, the yearly festivals, the heavens, Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Torah (the Bible).3 In the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas defined holiness as “that virtue by which a man’s mind applies itself and all its acts to God.”4 He ranks it among the infused moral virtues (an infused virtue is one that God himself puts into a person; it cannot be attained by human effort). When used of humans, the word holiness depicts an interior goodness and fidelity to God. God is holy because he is set apart from all other beings; his spirit, of course, is called The Holy Spirit. People are “holy” if they are “wholly” oriented to God and goodness; because of this they are “set apart” as well. How this works out within one’s personal life today is a matter of individual conscience. The virtue of holiness is a state of undefiled purity of heart, sanctity, sacredness, and freedom from vice. The holy person consecrates the secular and makes it sacred by recognizing the presence of God and goodness, not 79


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only in themselves and others, but in all created things. Those who practice the virtue of holiness are living in the world but they are not of the world. (John 17:11,16) Holiness causes growth in our spiritual life. It is a virtue to which our truest self (the person God wants us to be) aspires. To a certain degree, human holiness, devotion to goodness through grace and practice, can be called union with God. The inner life of virtue becomes “holy space;” we deeply recognize that our body is truly the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20) Holiness draws a boundary line around that which is uniquely and particularly associated with goodness. It requires the rejection of bad habits. As such, this virtue is closely aligned with the Cardinal Virtue of temperance. The essence of holiness is love and this virtue is also aligned with the virtues of integrity, honor, and humility. The holiness of God is the standard for all of us. Holiness in people, then, is a matter of approximating the unconditional love and the character and goodness of God. Our character can actually become sacred; we can become saints, albeit imperfect ones. A holy person is perfectly good and has wholly attained character God intended. If we’re honest, most of us (including myself) know and will admit that we are not wholly good. God is Holy Other and he is wholly other. God alone is holy good and wholly good. So then, since we are not God, the virtue of holiness does not free us from all temptation and vice. But it does give us freedom to orient our will toward goodness and not vice. God remains as the only judge of anyone’s holiness. Hence, holiness is said to belong to God by essence, and to creatures only by practice and participation. The Early Church spoke of theosis, the goal of the spiritual life by which a holy person becomes fully human and “divinized” (lower-case d; no matter how holy we are, we’re not Divine with an upper-case D). As worthy as this goal is, most of us are simply on the path to holiness and have not attained “divinization;” in this state we might be considered “semi-holy” or “pre-human.” Supernatural Existential Supernatural Existential, Nature presupposing grace, Holy Spirit’s full potential, Offered to the human race. Becoming into being, Self-transcending anthropoid, Material spirit, spiritual matter, Orienting unto God.


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Man’s freedom to accept, Transformation from within; Man’s freedom to reject, Overcoming of all sin. Radical love and knowledge, Brought into human history; The offer of himself within, God in his Holy Mystery Encounter with the thou Not just the total other; Communion in the now, Wholly Father; Holy Mother.

HONESTY “Thou shall not steal; thou shall not lie.” —8th and 9th Commandments (Dt 5:19–20)5

Honesty is the virtue of being truthful, genuine, and sincere, exhibiting fair and straightforward conduct. Honesty is particularly connected to the Cardinal Virtues of temperance and justice.6 Honesty is critically important in human affairs. It is required for an unbiased search for the truth; and it is the basis of trust. When people are honest, they possess uprightness of character, integrity, and can be relied on not to lie, cheat, steal, or deceive. Thomas Aquinas said, “Honesty is the same as spiritual beauty.”7 “Honesty” came into our language from the Latin honestus meaning truthful, free from fraud. The words honesty and honor have the same Latin root.8 Being honest implies that you are a person of honor; honest people are honorable, courageous, simple of heart, and possess a noble mind. Generally, honest people care more about being truthful than what people think about them. They will opt to be truthful and often will suffer the consequences for it. In marriage, business, politics, friendships, or family relationships, the vice of dishonesty poisons human love and communication; it destroys trust and dehumanizes both ourselves and others. The more dishonest people are, the less likely they are to understand honesty or to characterize their own or others behavior as wrong. The renowned mythologist, Joseph Campbell, recently deceased, has written extensively about the young knight Parzifal’s search for the Holy Grail and his need to be thoroughly and completely honest in order to find it. In


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Campbell’s words, he must be “an uncorrupted youth naturally endowed, who would merit the supreme crown through his own authentic life work and experience, motivated by a spirit of unflinching noble love, enduring loyalty, and spontaneous compassion. Such a one was Parzifal.”9 Respect for honesty and truthfulness shouldn’t compel us to reveal our minds on every occasion. There are times when we shouldn’t speak the blatant truth. Even the Bible tells us that “there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.”(Ecclesiastes 3:7)10 We should, however, always try to speak and live truth. But is “honesty the best policy?” The phrase has often been attributed to Ben Franklin. However, it pre-dates him by several centuries. Although not appearing exactly in those particular words, the statement appears in a paraphrased form on the lips of Don Quixote in the novel of the same name written by Miguel de Cervantes in the year 1605. Honesty, may in fact be the best policy, but it often will make you feel like you’re tilting at windmills or losing friends.11 Finally, if you want an honest opinion, here are two pieces of advice: (a) Don’t trust anyone in your life who claims to be totally honest; always get a good second opinion. (b) Do ask the youngest child in your family. The Best Policy Spiritual beauty Ever fair Lying, Cheating Stealing, Ne’er. Upright character Simple of heart Always truthful From the start Noble of mind Honor driven Conscience bound Led by heaven Valuable virtue Builder of trust Suffering consequence When you must Loving integrity Genuinely courageous Opinion be damned


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You’re often outrageous Honesty You precious stone Once e’er flawed Your value’s gone

HONOR The virtue of honor is the deserving of respect, deference, and esteem for a good reputation. People who possess it have a noble character and are known for integrity and ethical conduct. They are distinguished by their untarnished virtue and superior dignity. Once it is blemished, this virtue—like a chipped diamond—may still retain some value, but is forever flawed. Honor strengthens virtue and can stand alone as a virtue when other virtues seem to be missing. It can even take the role of goodness when goodness seems to be absent from a situation. As a virtue, honor will shine through an enlightened conscience.12 Conscience is a depth experience. It is that still small voice inside us that tells us that we are responsible for our own good or bad thoughts and actions. It is directed by our own individual free will and its orientation is through honor to goodness as our ultimate goal. Conscience will tell us to act honorably even when no one is looking. When we conform to the dictates of our conscience, we conform to being true to our truest self, honorably, justly, and lovingly. In its etymology, the word “honor” comes from the Latin honos meaning “reputation, dignity.”13 Honorable people have a good name, keep their promises, do the right thing no matter what anybody else is doing, and seek the path to goodness at all times. They are trustworthy in all situations. They understand that if they behave honorably in small matters, they may be led into matters of greater importance.14 As a virtue, honor is never a consequence of a power play, nor does it depend upon rank, social status, privilege, fame, or birthright. To live with honor is to embody an untarnished code of conduct. One first shows great love and respect for God and goodness, then the same for self and others. Honor places a high value on the worth of all humanity. In patriarchal societies, a woman’s honor is equated solely with chastity. Even today some societies tolerate “honor killings” of women defiled by sex, either by voluntary adultery or fornication, or by involuntary rape. This is a terrible abuse of the honor concept. One’s honor is not restricted to one’s sexual practices. Woman and men should practice honor as a virtue in all areas of life, not just in sexual matters. Honor can also simply be an acknowledgment of goodness found in anyone. We are bound by the Cardinal Virtue of justice to give honor to whom it is due.15 If we consider everyone as superior to ourselves, we will find honor


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in many through the virtue of humility. We will honor God and worship him, our parents and instructors, our loved ones whom we cherish, those with spiritual and temporal authority, the aged for their wisdom and experience, children for their innocence and honesty, the poor for showing us the face of God, military men and women for their service, our true friends who put up with us, and strangers for allowing us to exercise the virtue of hospitality and find some goodness through them. Finally, I’m reminded of that old saw put forth by the writer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”16 With the Fifth Commandment “Honor your Parents” in mind,17 here is a poem that honors my father who certainly deserved it for the exemplary life he lived. Raising Papa I read somewhere that the last of the senses To leave the body at death Is the sense of smell. Thus far I have no way of confirming that, Neither through personal experience, Nor has anyone come back to me from the dead, To share that as a common truth. How do we know that? After Lazarus died Martha told Jesus, “Lord, he’s dead four days now And he’s going to smell.” Once raised, he did smell, too, Not the way she imagined, As Lazarus breathed the smell of life anew. After papa died, Among the handful of items I kept in my closet Were his old suede fedora hat And his Paul Sebastian cologne. When I think of Papa I go over to the closet. First I smell the cologne; We gave him that for Christmas. The smell would get all over my kids When he used to hug and kiss them. I can picture them now, Rubbing their cherry cheeks,


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With tiny open-palmed hands. Vain attempts at removing Both cologne and kisses. The kids are all grown now, When they visit me, they too Go over to the closet, Take the cover off the bottle, And take a smell of papa. Funny, in all these years, The kids never asked me why I keep the hat. The hat smells like sweat. To me, a reminder that Papa was the salt of the earth. I prefer smelling the hat, To me, it’s the real smell of papa, Not the cologne. Unlike Jesus and Lazarus, I can raise papa only to memory After smelling both cologne and hat. I smell— I smell— I remember— I exhale— I unbind him— And I let him go!

HOPE Hope occurs at the tension between our desire for goodness on the one hand, and our feelings of anxiety, absurdity, despair, negativity and impending death on the other. When things are awful and experience indicates things are going to get worse, it takes the Cardinal Virtue of courage to be able to practice hope.18 Hope is always oriented toward the future. It is the expectation that God is going to make good on his promises, not only in the life to come, but in this life as well. The psalmist said, “I believe I shall enjoy the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13) Hope actually places God and goodness “ahead” (in the concrete, real world) even more than “above” (in the heavenly, perfect world). Furthermore, hope’s greatest domain is this present life


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because when hope’s longings are fulfilled, it is no longer hope; it is eclipsed by realized experience, thankfulness and worship.19 Hope provides us with confidence in the face of trouble or hardship. Hope is often grouped with faith and love as the three Theological Virtues. These virtues are not the product of human effort; they are infused goodness into a human person through the grace of God. Hope’s role in this sacred trio is to spur us on to greater and greater faith and love. Without hope, faith has no ultimate direction or goal; without hope, love cannot look forward to full, perfect fellowship with the Trinity. And here is a marvelous way the Theological Virtues work: the eyes of faith “see” what is now unseen; our ultimate, realized fulfillment and blessedness. Hope then moves us from this glorious spiritual vision to what’s ahead of us in our present life, the seen world in which God’s intentions and plans can, in all sorts of little and big ways, become realized through love. Hope changes what we want for our future; in so doing it perfects our will.20 In the Old Testament, God’s covenant with Israel births and nurtures the virtue of hope in God’s people. Hope for peace and prosperity under God’s benevolent care and hope for God’s ultimate victory over the forces of darkness was a major recurring theme of Israel’s prophets. The New Testament marshals several Greek words to convey various shades of hope’s meaning. Elpis emphasizes expectation; hypomone emphasizes patient endurance or steadfastness.21 The most-quoted biblical verse regarding this virtue is 1 Corinthians 13: “In the end there are faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”22 Aristotle would remind us that virtue is found in the middle ground between two extremes, and hope is no exception. At one pole we find despair: the disheartening feeling of anticipated failure (a vice of deficiency). Someone gripped by despair deems hope as foolish, unrealistic, or a cruel joke. At the other pole we find presumption: the overconfidence of anticipated success (a vice of excess). A person mired in presumption deems hope unnecessary because success is assured. Swinging in either direction from the virtue of hope spells trouble.23 Hope is expressed in poetry because the poet projects goodness into the future, not just for his or her own good future, but for future generations who are also seeking “the good life.” Hope is always oriented to the future, but its true character is inclusive; it wants goodness to expand and be experienced by as many as possible. Hope is a co-creator of renewal and recreation. Hope is best expressed poetically, because humans do not consciously or exactly know what the future holds. We can only anticipate it with steadfastness and patient endurance. What follows is a poem titled Horizon of Promised Expectation (H.O.P.E.).


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Horizon Of Promised Expectation Hope is imagining the unrealized, What is longed for and foreseen, Always oriented to the future, Not what is or ever has been. Spring in the dead of winter, Sunrise at darkest of night, In the abyss called “God,” But a tiny beam of light. Horizon Of Promised Expectation, Unknown, uncontrolled, uncertain; Beyond planning or calculation, Awaiting the raising of our curtain. The seed within our flower, The flower in our seed, God’s providential power, Supplying what we need. An attitude of eternity, An advent, but a not yet, A transcendent leap internally, Without need of safety net. Always involving risk, Of danger, failure, despairing; With opposites twofold, A prideful, deadly pairing. Despair, anticipated failure; Presumption, anticipated success; Both assuming a given outcome, Self assurance, beyond any guess. Hope keeps spirit youthful, Never becoming quite grown, Time open unto infinity; A dimension all its own. Our daydream of tomorrow, Toward God on a bumpy ride, Requiring power beyond us, Asked but to trust and abide. Forbidding human creation Of worldly paradise,


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Spending life’s duration, Rolling heaven’s dice. When faith seen, hope realized; Wisdom will then be A future wave arrived On wind-tossed, stormy sea. The day of our own resurrection, God ahead, not only above, Horizon Of Promised Expectation, Faith before, hope within, ahead; love.

HOSPITALITY The virtue of hospitality empowers us to treat others in a welcoming fashion; then to give them a generous, gracious, and cordial reception in the relationship between host and guest. When we practice hospitality well, others will be quick to recognize in us a willingness to provide genuine care and kindness as well as having a favorable disposition to their presence and companionship. Hospitality begins with placing a high value on other people’s humanity which in turn allows us to treat them with warmth, respect, and dignity. The virtue of hospitality awakens us to the very simple, yet powerful perception, that another person is in our presence. This awakening creates or enhances the possibility of social harmony and moves us beyond the virtue of tolerance. Hospitality can lighten the load of the world for others. Hospitality is particularly virtuous when it is extended to the stranger, traveler, poor, underprivileged, sick, injured, aged, or those in need of the basic necessities of life. It allows us to break through our own anxiety, fear, and loneliness, which we all share in common. It creates a place in us and around us that welcomes guests and offers a pleasant, sustaining, and welcoming environment. “Hospitality” appears to have come into our language from the Latin word hospitalitas, “friendliness to guests.”24 The ancient meaning of “hospital” described a place where strangers, visitors, or guests were simply received. Only later did the word take on the meaning of being restricted to those who were sick or injured.25 The Bible contains many examples of hospitality, starting with Abraham entertaining three guests (Genesis 18:1–33) all the way to Hebrews 13:2 which says, “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.” But hospitality is by no means restricted to Bible culture; it was practiced and praised by the Greeks and Romans and in many


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other cultures. To this day, in quite a few cultures entertaining a guest is a very high obligation and honor. With the virtue of hospitality, we are able to open ourselves and our homes to others. When we feel at home with ourselves, we are freer at the center of ourselves. We can then enable others to enter into our space and reveal our surroundings and feelings to them. When we are “at home in our own skin,” we are on the way to becoming free enough to invite others in more graciously. Our presence will be inviting, friendly, and freeing. Mahatma Gandhi is an example of someone I have always believed who was at home in his own skin and who manifested the virtue of hospitality.26 In his Summa, Thomas Aquinas considered hospitality a part of the Cardinal Virtue of justice. Consequently, many later scholars have not included it as a separate virtue.27 Hospitality is also aligned with the virtues of love, kindness, and generosity. Outsourced To India Do you know about Dharma “That which supports one”? Or how about Karma “Deeds that are done”? Have you read the Bhagavad-Gita Chapters two and three? Or the Sacred Book of The Veda, Favorites of Mohandes Gandhi? They tell of a “satyagrahi” And where wisdom can be found ’Twas on the inside of his body Mahatma carried these around.

HUMILITY “Humility goes before honors.” —(Proverbs 18:12)

“Humility” is derived from the Latin humilis, translated as “humble” but also as “low” or “from the earth” (from humus, which means earth or dirt).28 The virtue of humility can be found in an unpretentious and modest person who thinks of others as more important than himself or herself. Humility reminds us to be thankful instead of boastful. Humility is not to be confused with acts of self-humiliation or self-shaming. Only grace can produce the kind of humility that humbles us without degrading us and that lift us up without inflating us.


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This virtue allows us to assess our worth modestly and yet make a true and just estimate of ourselves. It removes the major obstacle to faith (over-weaning and over-reaching pride), makes us fit recipients for grace, and allows us to then recognize, in the first place, that all virtue or goodness comes from God in the form of grace. With humility comes an awareness of our human limitations and a wariness about the kind of curiosity that draws our hearts from God. When humility combines with the virtues of truthfulness and obedience it produces proper self-realization, self-esteem, and self-image. We might picture humility as a rubber ball being thrown to the ground. First, it allows itself to be cast down. A moment later, somewhat squashed when it hits the pavement, it quickly molds itself to the situation and springs back. And when it springs, it always bounces back toward heaven. The Hebrew prophets enjoined God’s people to practice the virtue of humility. A classic passage from Isaiah says, “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him who has a contrite and humble heart, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to lift up the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15, New International Version) In the Gospels, Jesus used the example of little children to illustrate the virtue of humility.29 Other passages in the New Testament say, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) “So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6) Jesus himself was meek and humble of heart, the supreme example of true humility: “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus. He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5–8; to get the full impact of this passage, read verses 3–11). To practice humility is to imitate Jesus’ attitude, self-effacing conduct, and self-emptying. Other world religions recognize the importance of humility as well. Laotse, the father of Taoism, stressed the virtues of simplicity and humility; he placed much emphasis on “who one is” as compared to “what one does” (being vs. doing). He wrote, “The wise person will seek not the high places or crowning achievement, but the lowliness of God. He will love childlike simplicity and humility.” Living a simple and humble life, Laotse understood humility as being in harmony with nature and the wisdom of the universe. To Laotse, simplicity and humility were the basis of greatness.30 As a poet, a favorite natural symbol he used to depict humility was water, a simple substance seeking the lowest places. He said, “The best of men is like water. Water benefits all things and does not compete with them. It dwells in the lowly places that all disdain-wherein it comes near to the Tao.”31


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Humility flows from the Cardinal Virtue of temperance. Temperance hedges in desires and appetites so they don’t go wild. Temperance also fights against the vice of pride.32 Without humility, the practice of every other virtue could be reduced to selfish-pride. With humility, we are empowered to relinquish self-will, self-love, and self-interest; it is the proof of the presence and practice of every other virtue. As Gregory The Great said, “He who gathers the other virtues without humility is as one who carries straw against the wind.”33 The First Death Humility originated in heaven, God choosing to become man, A little less than the angels, Fully divine, fully human. God grounded humility in love, And thus sought to embrace, The high and lofty position, Of the very lowest place. The all-mighty God knew, That soaring and ascending, Could never occur without First stooping and bending. It was pride then that sprung, From shaded darkling root, As heaven then revolted In an evil-hatched pursuit. Angels chased down pilgrim man, Causing heaven’s largest breach, But it was only God’s humility, Put man out beyond their reach. Darkest angels simply couldn’t Touch God, become as other, In the embracing of humility, God chose an earthly mother. No mothers have the angels, They, created all complete, Can have no birth or dying, Or any earthly seat. They can but rejoice in heaven, Where man’s spirit they doth meet, On earth, if fallen, finding; Their ill chosen, sore defeat.


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Without God’s grace so given, Fully gift, and fully free, There would be no creation Or man as man would be; We would not have created love, Hence no humility, No virtue and no goodness, Or sweet holy poverty. There’d be no such thing as human, Hence no divinity, No mother, birth, or family, Nor life eternal in the tree. And in the end, finally, No death, ultimately; No death for you, None for me. But, the first death began, In love’s facet-humility, God becoming man; Dying into humanity. Humus, sacred humus, It’s humility’s soil, It is the earth beneath us, God’s creation and man’s toil; Love’s root, but the only route, To escape darkest angels foil. Love’s crosses are self-losses, As humility doth as must, Reduce man unto ashes, Then ashes unto dust. In the end, God’s plan alone, Fully man, and fully just. I pray Lord, In human life and death, You will raise me like Jesus, Down before up, I trust

HUMOR Humor can bring about joy, another fruit of the spirit of love (Galatians 5:22). Good humor is meant to be en-“joy”-ed. The Virtue of humor is the ability to enjoy what is amusing, comical, witty, whimsical, incongruous, or absurd;


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it is also the virtue of not taking oneself too seriously. Humor depends upon the virtue of creativity; it utilizes imagination, meaning, sound, rhythm, and timing to create its desired effect.34 Humor is a wisdom language in that it speaks to us through the language of human life, observation, and experience. It cannot be “taught;” It must be “caught.” Something is considered humorous when it belongs simultaneously to two altogether independent contexts, narratives, or series of events and it is capable of being interpreted with two entirely different meanings at the same time. We enjoy comedians because of their ability to dance in one universe of meaning, and then at the punch line reveal an entirely different meaning. Much humor is based on discrepancy. The discrepancy can be between man and himself, man and another man, man and woman (or men and women), man and dog (or animal), man and nature, and the ultimate discrepancy—between man and the universe. Humor can be good (virtuous) or bad (vicious). Good-humor lies in the middle between the extremes of over-seriousness (a vice of deficiency) and buffoonery (a vice of excess).35 Good-humor should always end in goodness or happiness and never in sadness or vicious ridicule and sarcasm. Goodhumor springs from the heart; its essence is the virtue of love and its ground is the Cardinal Virtue of prudence. Love and prudence set the parameters for the who, what, when, where, and how of a joke.36 Good-humor also possess aromas of the virtues of truthfulness, hope, and honesty; it may gently chide, but it should never wound deeply. Humor is a virtue, but is also a signal of transcendence. The comic reflects on the human spirit’s experience of disjunctures from what ought to be and feelings of imprisonment in a seemingly absurd world. Humor implies, by laughing at these things, that the disjunctures and imprisonment are not final. The dramatic tension between what is and what ought to be, a universal human experience, is the well from which both comedy and tragedy have always drawn.37 It is also the reason theatre arts masks always appear together, one laughing and one sad. If humor is light, airy, natural, and simple enough, then it can defy the gravity of life and death. The following poem relates two seemingly unrelated subjects, resurrection and humor. Resurrection And Humor As through the valley I walk, Seeing death’s shadow growing, I begin to randomly talk, Of my experiential unknowing. Only one has supposedly died, And from death came back,


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From the far other side, Of that long one-way track. I’ve seen others who die, Life goes in one direction, But, I’d be telling a lie, If I said I’d seen one resurrection. Resurrection is outside reality, So can only be understood, In terms of its potentiality, Frankly, the odds aren’t good. What I could attempt to do then, Is perhaps try feebly to show, Resurrection’s existence by comparison, Evidenced from that which I know. I’ve had other life experiences, For example, there is humor, But, resurrection and its chances, Are known to me only by rumor. So let’s directly compare, Both humor and resurrection, An example, seemingly fair, But lacking complete perfection. Humus is literally dirt or earth, Resurrection, human rising from dead, Humus to human and humor gives birth, It’s human laughter which rises instead. In humor we spontaneously laugh, Like resurrection, we don’t even try, But, here’s the ridiculous gaff, Do we ever once think of why? We laugh because we see, A contradiction or disparity, Humor thrives on incongruity, Irony, paradox, absurdity. Just like resurrection’s possibility, It’s outside the realm of reality, Both have much comparability, And neither takes death seriously. In humor the contrast is provoking, Which then elicits laughter’s rise,


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Is resurrection merely Godly-joking, Much different from what we surmise? Humor belongs to a sphere, Outside of space and time, It’s like resurrection I hear, Needs no reason, but has rhyme. If humor is outside reality, And resurrection has no earthly law Then can death be human finality, Well, snort, chuckle, giggle, guffaw-

NOTES 1. “Sanctify.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=sanctify&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 2. “Shalom.” Donald E. Gowan, ed., Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, First Edition, 2003) p. 355. 3. Leviticus 10:3; Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 11:9; Ezra 22:26, 39:7: Nehemiah 11:1; Isaiah 5:16, 6:3, 10:17, 40:25, 56:7, 57:15, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 81, Article 8, Ans. 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3081. htm#article8 (accessed 10/11/2009). 5. Deuteronomy 5:19–20, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 6. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Questions 141, Articles 1–8, 143, Article 1, & 145, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009).See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3141.htm#article1, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/ 3143.htm#article1, and http://www.newadvent .org/summa/3145.htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 7. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 145, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3145 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 8. “Honesty.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=honesty&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 9. Joseph Campbell, Myths To Live By (New York, NY: Viking Penguin Books, First Edition, 1972) p. 163.


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10. Ecclesiastes 3:7, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 11. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Part II, BK 3. From Eric Donald Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, and James S. Trefil, eds., The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflen Co., Third Edition, 2002) p. 52. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=GAzOg4eQl2YC& pg=PA52&dq=honesty+is+the+best+policy+Don+Quixote+Miguel+de+Cervantes&lr =#v=onepage&q=honesty%20is%20the%20best%20policy%20Don%20Quixote%20 Miguel%20de%20Cervantes&f=false (accessed 10/19/2009). 12. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 103, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3103 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 13. “Honor.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=honor&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 14. Luke 16:10, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 15. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 63, Article 3, Question 80, Article 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/3063.htm#article3 and http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3080.htm#article1 (accessed 10/19/2009). 16. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life. From Edward Waldo Emerson, ed., The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Boston, MA & New York, NY: Houghton-Mifflin & Co., First Edition, 1904) p. 211. Found on the Googlebooks. com Website at http://books.google.com/books?id=SkQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA211& dq=The+louder+he+talked+of+his+Honor,+the+faster+we+counted+our+spoons.++ Ralph+Emerson#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/19/2009). 17. Exodus 20:12, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 18. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 128, Article 1. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3128 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 19. “Hope.” In Richard P. McBrien, ed., Catholicism: New Study Edition (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994), pp. 935–937. See also Alan Richardson, ed., Westminster Dictionary of Theology (Ann Arbor, MI: Westminster Press, Original Univ. of Michigan, First Edition 1969) p. 271. 20. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 62, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2062 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 21. “Hope” article in the Book of Romans, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970) pp. 221–241. See also


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Karl Rahner, ed., The Encyclopedia of Theology, The Concise Sacramentum Mundi (New York, NY: Seabury Press, First Edition, 1975) pp. 650–655. Found on the Googlebooks.com website at http://books.google.com/books?id=K_mNWg2C5lUC &pg=PA180&dq=The+Bible+Knowledge+Word+Study+Page+152+Romans+Darre ll+Bock# (accessed 10/20/2009). 22. 1 Corinthians 13:13, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 23. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book V. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/20/2009). See also Richard P. McBrien, ed., Catholicism: New Study Edition (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1994) p. 935. 24. “Hospitality.” In Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hospitality&searchmode=none. 25. “Hospital.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hospital&searchmode=none (accessed 10/20/2009). 26. Homer A. Jack, ed., The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook Of His Life And Writings (New York, NY: Grove Press, 1994) p.308. 27. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 58, Articles 1–12. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/3058.htm#article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 28. “Humility.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=humility&searchmode=none (accessed 10/20/2009). 29. Matthew 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 30. Laotse (also Lao Tzu), Tao Te Ching (also I Ching), 22:2, 25:1, 32:2, 36:3, 57:3. From Lin Yutang, ed. and transl., The Wisdom of Laotse, Books III-VI (New York, NY: Random House, 1948) pp. 134–265. 31. Laotse (also Lao Tzu), Tao Te Ching (also I Ching), 78. From Lin Yutang, ed. and transl., The Wisdom of Laotse, Book VII, “Aphorisms” (New York, NY: Random House, 1948) p. 306. 32. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Questions 143, Article 1, & 161, Articles 1–6. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/3143.htm#article1 and http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3161.htm#article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 33. Attributed to Gregory The Great by Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Article 3. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm#article3 (accessed 10/20/2009).


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34. Peter L. Berger, A Rumor of Angels, Modern Society And The Rediscovery Of The Supernatural: The Argument From Humor (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1969) pp. 86–94. See also Steven Leacock, Humor And Humanity: An Introduction To The Study Of Humor (London, England: Thomas Butterworth Co., 1937) p. 25. 35. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., and W.D. Ross, transl., Nicomachaen Ethics, Aristotle (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See also the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/20/2009). 36. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 51, Articles 1–4, Question 61, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CDROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3051.htm#article1 and http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm #article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 37. Peter L. Berger, A Rumor of Angels, Modern Society And The Rediscovery Of The Supernatural: The Argument From Humor (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1969) p. 88.


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IDEALISM The virtue of idealism is the practice of setting one’s heart on the highest standards and then attempting to live under their influence. When you have ideals, you follow your beliefs and you don’t just accept things the way they are. You imagine the greater good and seek to make a difference in the world around you. Idealism should not so much be considered a perfection of virtue as much as openness to receiving the grace we need to improve our individual orientation toward goodness. Idealism is more about imagining the good that can occur through a change of behavior (individually or as a society) than actually producing perfect goodness. The virtue of idealism holds love, truth, justice, wisdom, goodness, and beauty in the highest regard as normative standards and directive forces. Idealism’s focus on the future is closely aligned with the virtue of hope. If we are idealists, we ardently want change, but sometimes we get judgmental, harsh and impatient with the pace of change (or lack of it). For us to move from mere idealism (high standards) to virtuous idealism, we must be willing to realistically assess human limitations in general and our own personal imperfections in particular. If we allow virtuous idealism to probe us and ferret out our vices and deficiencies, we’ll vividly see when we don’t measure up to our ideals (and we can learn something of the virtue of humility). Furthermore, going through this process will help us realize which of our ideals are perhaps unrealistic or at odds with practical life. In short, to become virtuous our idealism must be tempered by the virtues of prudence, truthfulness, discretion, and humility. In 17th century Spain, during the Inquisition, Miguel Cervantes conceived a work of imaginative fiction with Don Quixote as the hero. Literary critics 99


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consider this book the first modern novel. Cervantes’ Don Quixote was the ultimate idealist. He was a man for all time and seasons; he was the quintessential defender of lost causes. He “fights for the right” and is “willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.” The story illustrates how reality can be changed, in part, by idealism. It is part satire, part paradox—a comedy and tragedy in one. Don Quixote is an elderly, idealistic knight who sets out on his horse, Rozimonte, with his squire, Sancho Panza, to defend lost causes and right all wrongs. He is totally altruistic, but he is powerless. He tilts at windmills and defends the honor of the village whore, Aldonza, whom he imagines to be the lovely princess, Dulcinea. The story is truly an “impossible dream.” Cervantes is doing more than just telling a story about a person who could be seen as foolish and unrealistic. In various subtle ways, Cervantes has positioned his lead character to resemble Jesus Christ. These parallels do not extend to every feature of Don Quixote; in the final scene, on his death bed, reality stares him in the face and sadly changes him. However, it also becomes clear to the reader that Don Quixote’s idealism, vivid imagination, and heroic defense of lost causes had changed the reality of some of those around him. Cervantes’ work of imaginative fiction conveyed the profound truth that idealism, in some measure, can change reality.1 Poets are often idealists as well, attempting to influence others culturally and counter-culturally, to change reality through their ideals expressed in the written word. Reality Of The Dreamer Behold the dreamer, Knight of the woeful face, Light and mirror of knighthood errant, Righter of wrongs, Undoer of unjust injuries, Riding forth on sway-backed Rozimante, To do battle against all enemies, Especially those influenced by the whistling of the wind. How ridiculous you appeared, Crowned like a clown, Washbasin on your head; Imagining Gold Helmet of Mambrino. Then tumbling to the ground Under the weight of the wooden weapon With which you chose to do battle. You failed to live up to expectations, Especially your own.


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“Scorned and covered with scars,” How difficult it must have been To strive with the remnants of courage. Sancho Panza, among others, Did ultimately find Wisdom in your follies; And your life gave new life, To at least one other; The lady of your thoughts, The paramour of your soul. Your vision transformed Aldonza into Dulcinea; Giving evidence that Reality Didn’t just change you, But that your perception Ultimately shaped Reality. You were much like Jesus. Reality Seems to have a way of eventually Drowning all the dreamers, But, within another heart, The impossible dream Always seems to resurrect From time to time. Eternity’s way of tempering time, Time’s way of tempering eternity, God shaping man, Man shaping God, But never drowning The dream’s reality

IMAGINATION The word “imagination” comes from the Latin verb imaginari meaning “to picture oneself.”2 The virtue of imagination is the ability to form images and to picture goodness in the mind. Imagination gives us the power to deal resourcefully with unusual problems or conceive of creative ways we might deal with our own shortcomings and vices. It enables us to visualize goodness so that we might potentially experience it in reality; it also prods us into


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thinking of new ways to help people appropriate goodness through God’s grace. On the other hand, imagination can short-circuit goodness if we trick ourselves into believing that good comes from us rather than through us. When this happens, imagination has become a vice. Imagination is dreaming in the daytime. All of humanity’s greatest achievements began simply as figments of someone’s imagination. Imagination gives vision to virtue and gives one a special way of looking at life and the world around us. It also enables someone to see images of ethical and moral realities. Because Imagination is the seed of reality and not exactly the same as reality, it is oriented to the future. As a virtue, it then becomes aligned with the virtue of hope.3 Images are powerful tools to explain meaning. Authors, storytellers, preachers, teachers, and orators use word pictures in stories, proverbs, fables, parables, metaphors, allegories, myths, and poems to spur interest, to help people identify with the characters, and most importantly, to contrast goodness with badness (virtue with vice). These images as word pictures create lasting associations in the mind to illustrate, compare, and contrast. We need look no further than the nearest Bible to find many examples of all of these.4 Forming mental images in the mind is not new. The idea of imagery dates back to ancient Greece. Aristotle developed this idea in the first comprehensive cognitive theory. His teacher, Plato, had talked about phantasma, the reflections we find in pools or mirrors. Aristotle expanded the word to describe appearances or images that come to us through our sensory experiences and that get reflected in the psyche. He compared these mental images to seeing an inner painting in the mind.5 In applying the virtue of imagination, we form a mental concept of goodness not actually present to our senses. Images “light up” our minds; they don’t have to be strictly visual experiences. These images can create a word-picture that enhances not only the sense of sight, but the other senses (hearing, touch, taste and smell) as well. These can be described as “seeing goodness in the mind’s eye,” “hearing goodness in the head,” “imagining the feel of goodness,” and others. A lot of our thinking and perception has to do not only with what is (realism), but what might be (imagination). As a virtue, Robert F. Kennedy once famously said, “There are those who look at things the way they are and ask, why? I dream of things that never were and ask, why not?”6 Imagination Imagination, that foggy-like mirror, Reflects creative disorder of mind;


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Gives wings to thoughts of discovery So new realities loose and unbind. This resourceful whimsy-invention, Produces ideas of novel construction, While paying no heed to convention, Previous patterns or formal instruction. We then envision new possibilities, Wider horizons with a fresh perspective, See what’s born without probabilities, Or constraint which space and time give. Using the eyes of our inner soul, Mind sees fancy transcend reason, As desire for dream-enhanced goal, Creates mental picture out of season. Our unconscious orients to future, Seeing not what is, but might be, Intersects at desire and reason, Bridging perception with reality. Our mind roams freely, unfenced, An unshaped, unmodified power, Imagination then becomes reality, At inspiration’s birth-giving hour.

INTEGRITY “This above all: To thine own self be true.” —William Shakespeare7

Integrity can be defined as “wholeness of character.” A person is said to have integrity to the extent that everything he or she believes and does is based on the same set of core values. Integrity is very much at the center of who we are; to lose our integrity is to lose an essential part of our identity. Integrity guides who we wish to become (our heart) as well as our behavior (our habits). Who we are becoming is always of far more value than whatever we are doing. As such, it is a process of integrating all aspects of our character under the banner of goodness. The virtue of integrity speaks of a consistent performance of many virtues over time. These other virtues include courage, truthfulness, compassion, reliability, generosity, temperance, honesty, loyalty, faithfulness, prudence and others. The Apostle Paul told his Christian followers that the Holy Spirit would integrate their personalities so they


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would be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control.8 We could say that the sum total of all our virtues equals our integrity. What does it take to become a person of integrity? Two fundamental intuitions are involved. First, the intuition of personal relationships: integrity concerns the conscientious relations we have with ourselves, our neighbors, and our God. Second, the intuition of morality, of what ethical actions in the real world look like. People of integrity willingly bear the consequences of their convictions, even when exceedingly difficult conflicts arise pitting desires against principles and vice against virtue. Those who display one quality in their outward bearing and a completely different quality in their character are hypocrites. However, people of integrity will not act with duplicity and they do not betray their principles with deceptive words or actions. They are not “two faced.”9 The circle poetically symbolizes integrity. A circle is integral, whole, complete, and entire; it has a firm, fixed center, and is the sum of everything inside its perimeter. Expanding on this idea, the poetic symbol for marriage is two interlocking circles—ideally, the joining of an integrated man and an integrated woman). The five interlocking circles of the Olympic symbol point to the hope of integrated people and cultures. Any of us make bad choices in our lives, choices that may have left us wondering why we did what we did. Even when we fail, we can pick ourselves up and ever be striving to become persons of greater integrity. We can and should learn from our mistakes and the vices and imperfections which alienate us from our true selves, and which we recognize as sin. After all, who doesn’t want to be whole or complete? A Radiant Life Circles encircled, Many into one; A universe personalized, In eyeing the sun. Alpha and omega, Beginning without end; Living life on the periphery; Centered only when we bend. Cycles of days, Rounds out tomorrow; Providential wheel of fortune; Joy circumscribes sorrow.


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Revolving through years, Planets orbit the sun, Blood’s circulating pattern, Beats hearts of everyone. Global people connected, Each life affects another; Moon, Menstrual cycles, ovulation; Woman evolves into mother. Will we ever be whole; Integrated as we grow? “What goes ’round comes ’round” We reap what we sow.

NOTES 1. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote. From James Montgomery, ed. and David Quint, tran Cervantes, Don Quixote (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 2009) p. xxv. Found on Googlebooks. http://books.google.com/books?id=h5KY4EnN4ewC& pg=PT26&dq=Don+Quixote+Miguel+de+Cervantes+idealism+idealist&lr=#v=one page&q=&f=false (accessed 10/20/2009). 2. “Image.” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=image&searchmode=none (accessed 10/19/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Questions 17, Articles 1–8, Question 62, Articles 1–4. From the New Advent Encyclopedia, found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/3017.htm#article1 and http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/2062.htm#article1 (accessed 10/20/2009). 4. Laura Wild, ed., A Literary Guide To The Bible: A Study of the Types of Literature Present in the Bible, Section IV, “Fables, Parables, Allegories and Proverbs” (New York, NY: George H. Doran Publishing, 1922) pp. 99–103. Found on Googlebooks.com at http://books.google.com/books?id=RqYQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA43& dq=A+Literary+Guide+to+the+Bible,+Sec+IV,+p+age+99,+Laura+Wild/&lr=#v= onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/20/2009). 5. Aristotle, De Anima, Books II & III. From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed. and A. J. Smith, transl., The Complete Works of Aristotle (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1908). Found on the Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/ Aristotle/soul.mb.txt (accessed 10/20/2009). 6. Attributed to Robert F. Kennedy in a June 6, 1968 speech. From Konstantin Sidorenko, Robert F. Kennedy: A Spiritual Biography (New York, NY: Crossroads Publishing, 2000) p.150. Found on the Quotationsbook.com website at http://quotationsbook .com/quote/11469 (accessed 10/20/2009).


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7. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, sc.3. From Samuel Johnson, ed., The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, With Life, Compendium, and Concordance of Familiar Gems, Vol. VII, (Phila., PA: Gebbie Publishing, 1896) p.243. Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=7V84AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1 PA243&dq=this+above+all+to+thine+own+self+be+true++Hamlet,+Act+I,+Sc.+III,+ William+Shakespeare#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/21/2009). 8. GAL 5:22, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 9. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Books I- III, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Translated by W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives, (Stilwell: KS: Digireads.com Publishing,, 1994) See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/21/2009).


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Chapter Fourteen

J

JUSTICE Justice is the virtue that weighs actions and motives, seeks to secure peoples’ God-given rights, and determines rewards or punishments. Justice can be given or received: a judge metes out justice in a court of law; a victim or a wrongdoer can “get justice.” Justice can also be seen as the quality that seeks to restore equity, health and relationships and where each person gets what he or she rightfully deserves. The just person is virtuous, the virtuous person will be just. In the Bible, “justice” and “righteousness” are closely linked, both translating the same Hebrew word: sedeqa.1 In the Old Testament, God’s justice is revealed through creation, through the Law (the ceremonial law and the moral law), the prophets, and through the totality of our duties to God, to others, and to ourselves. Justice was to be an interior relationship with God expressed by following through on exterior responsibilities and duties in personal relationships and in society. In the Christian understanding, justice flows from love. It is also recognized as one of the four Cardinal Virtues along with prudence, temperance, and courage.2 Jesus was the embodiment and personification of Divine Justice and the perfect fulfillment of the Law.3 The English word “justice” is derived from the Latin ius which means “right.” By definition, a right is any person’s moral claim upon other persons or upon society.4 In this sense, human and civil rights are discerned from the duties or responsibilities we owe one another as human beings created in God’s image. Justice, then, is a virtue which perfects the will and inclines it to render to each and all what belongs rightly to them. Our goal becomes to “ad-just” (add justice) to the lives of people around us. 107


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For understanding justice in a philosophic sense, we owe a lot to Aristotle. He saw justice as the cornerstone of social living and believed that justice demonstrated the highest comprehension of the virtues. Aristotle analyzes justice in the same way as the other virtues—but justice is the only virtue that merits its own book in his Ethics. This signifies the critical importance of justice for Aristotle’s ethical system, and also indicates the complexity of the topic. Aristotle thought that justice should be considered the greatest of the virtues.5 He wrote, “In justice is every virtue comprehended.” He believed justice to be the completing virtue because “He who possesses justice can exercise his virtue not only in himself, but towards his neighbor also.”6 Poetically, the symbol for justice is Lady Justice. She is usually depicted wearing a blindfold, representing the idea that Justice should be given objectively and impartially, without bias, prejudice, fear, or favor. She is also usually shown carrying balancing scales in her left hand to fairly and equitably measure and mete out the justice due. Her right hand grips a double-edged sword, showing she has the power and authority to enforce the moral, just law. Just A Lady Blindly seeing woman: Objective; impartial, Wisely deciding Without prejudice, bias, Fear, or favor. Courageously measuring, Meting fairly; equitably, What is due to each And all. Then swiftly wielding Power and authority; For, against. Judging rightly, Rewarding; punishing; Giving to each the Fulfilment of the Law; Tempered only by mercy.

NOTES 1. “Justice,” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=justice&searchmode=none (accessed 10/21/2009).


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2. “Justice,” From David Freedman, Allen Myers, Astrid Beck, ed., Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000) p.757. Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=P9sYIRXZZ2MC&pg=PA757& dq=Eerdman%E2%80%99s+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+Justice+David+Freedman#v =onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/21/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 58, Articles 1–12, Question 61, Articles 1–5, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3058.htm#article1 and http://www. newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm#article1 (accessed 10/21/2009). 4. MT 6:33, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970) See also, Benedict Green, J. Przbylski, ed., Matthew:Poet of the Beatitudes, (London, Eng.: Continuum Publishing Group, 2001) pp. 181–189. 5. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book V, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/27/2009). 6. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book V, Sec. 1, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/27/2009).


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Chapter Fifteen

K

KINDNESS “The deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments.” —the Talmud1

The dictionary defines kindness as “a virtue of showing love and the qualities of having a sympathetic, affectionate, warmhearted, and considerate nature.”2 Kindness is a prominent feature of God’s nature as revealed in Scripture; the Book of Psalms refers to God’s kindness over eighty times.3 When we as humans express this virtue, we are operating in concert with God’s nature and with goodness itself. “Kindness” is related to the word “kin,” a term that evokes the feelings of belonging that relatives and family have for each other. If we lived in traditional societies, we might think of the proper place of kindness as being among kin, the members of our own in-group, particularly our own family, village and clan.4 (City-dwellers might have a harder time understanding this idea.) We shouldn’t put down this aspect of kindness, because it is in these formative kinship relations that we learn the basics of kindness. In my case, I have learned much from my mom and my wife Terri, two of the kindest people I have ever known. An extremely key word in the Hebrew Bible is hesed, variously translated as grace, steadfast love, loving-kindness, merciful kindness, and favor. It carries with it connotations of people receiving undeserved but overwhelming blessings from God. It also speaks of a “kinship” kind of love that goes far beyond niceness, civility, and politeness.5 Kindness is not a duty; it is an expression of a personal virtue and love, which is at the heart of all virtue. 110


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Many cultures encourage the virtue of “loving-kindness” and “kindheartedness,” the kindness that goes beyond the minimum requirements. This virtue brings out into the open who we have become as human beings. It cannot be faked. Kindness softens hearts, lifts spirits, and molds relationships. The value of our lives is best measured not by the material possessions we’ve acquired, but by the hearts we’ve touched. Who we are is far more important than what we have. Everything we do affects not only our own life, but it touches other lives too. When you put some kindness into the world, you’ll like what the world gives back! Small acts of kind-heartedness have created many ripples and have probably done more for the world than all the religious zeal, eloquent words, and education of the masses combined. The virtue of kindness must be grown into. We don’t just get up one morning and say, “Beginning today, I’m going to be kind.” Even the best intentions fail if we rely on our own strength. The Bible calls kindness a “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22) because it cannot be grown effectively without the Spirit’s continuing work of love in our lives. If you, like me, find it difficult to be kind, seek out someone who is, then ask God to give you a kind-heart transplant. Then the next time you see an unkind person doing an unkind act, try to show them some kindness; no doubt they really need it! Show them a big toothy grin or give them a kind word, listening ear, or a broad warm smile. This will not only help you in orienting yourself to goodness, it will also make them wonder what you’re up to! Kin D ness Seeded from above, Small when sown; Yet fully grown Flowers into love. More than wise, Twice as nice; Shown in eyes Melts heart’s ice. Word, touch, smile; Changes the earth, Pregnant for a while Kindness gives birth. Where kindness goes, It multiplies, As endless echoes Of hope arise.


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As random deed, Man to mankind; Love’s then freed To cleanse unkind. Give kindness a chance, Propel it down years, Stop the future advance Of hurt, hate, and fears. It will heal pain, I’d e’en go so far To say, now and again, It might stop a war.

NOTES 1. “Kindness,” The Talmud, Y. Peah 1,1, From Louis I Newman, Samuel Spitz, ed., The Talmudic Anthology, Tales and Teachings of the Rabbis, ( Springfield, NJ: Behrman House Publishing Inc., 1978) p. 238 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=82TvQE7i3pIC&pg=PA238&dq=The+Talmud+ The+deeds+of+kindness+are+equal+in+weight+to+all+the+commandments.#v=one page&q=&f=false (accessed 10/21/2009). 2. “Loving-Kindness,” From David Freedman, Allen Myers, Astrid Beck, ed., Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000) p.826. Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=P9sYIRXZZ2MC&pg=PA 826&dq=kindness+dictionary+of+the+bible&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false 3. “Kind,” “Kindness,” From Rev. Stephen Hartdegren, OFM, LSS, ed., Nelson’s Complete Concordance of the New American Bible, (Nashville, TN & New York, NY: Thomas Nelson & Co, 1977) pp.604–605. 4. “Kind” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found online at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=kind&searchmode=none (accessed 10/21/2009). 5. “Hesed/Loving-Kindness,” From T. Alexander, David W. Baker, ed., Dictionary Of The Old Testament Pentateuch, (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2003) pp.371–373 http://books.google.com/books?id=Ao5ecZ0ZsG8C&pg=PA372&dq= Hebrew+words+to+english+dictionary+Hebrew+word+hesed&lr=#v=onepage&q= &f=false (accessed 10/21/2009). See also, G. Johannes Botterwick, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz Fabry, ed., Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1997) pp. 46–65, 513.


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Chapter Sixteen

L

LOVE A well-cut diamond has many facets. When the light hits the facets just right, the diamond sparkles and dances; it’s almost alive. Love is a living diamond. Love’s virtuous facets are joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, humility, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). When God’s love and light hit us just right, you can be sure there’s sparkling and dancing! Love cannot happen without free will. Without winning our free will, “love” would degenerate into manipulation. Additionally, virtue without love is absolutely useless. Justice without love becomes legalism; faith without love becomes ideological rigidity; hope without love becomes self-centeredness or presumption; courage without love becomes recklessness; truth without love becomes joyless discovery; wisdom without love becomes cunning; and humility without love becomes false piety. Augustine called love the “life of virtues.”1 Aquinas called love the “form of virtues.”2 Every other virtue must have love as its essence and the fountain of love as its source. In fact, no other virtue can be virtuous without being permeated by love. As one of the three Theological Virtues (the others are faith and hope), love is infused into us by the grace of God3 and through this virtue we are united to the goodness of God. Aquinas said that the love that God has for us “infuses and creates the goodness which is present in all things.”4 The English language has only one word for love. However, the ancient Greeks distinguished four types of love. Epithumia speaks of lustful desire. Eros is sexual attraction. Phileo is affectionate, fraternal or brotherly love. Agape, which extends beyond the others, is a self-giving love that keeps the welfare of others in mind, regardless of the cost, and is expressed in humility. 113


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Agape originates in the very spirit and nature of God. Agape is human love, but it is also divine; as it is dynamic, unconditional, universal, supernatural, and eternal.5 Love is ageless. You can go back to “The Book of Songs” in the Bible (also called The Song of Songs or The Book Of Canticles), written in 500 B.C. This is a fantastic example of love in poetic form. Many people blush when they read the romantic, poignant, passionate eroticism expressed in this biblical poetry for the first time. But God’s love is a spiritual reality, much bigger than our little minds can conceive. Since we can never fully or completely describe or define God’s divine essence, the metaphors of poetry are very valuable for helping us to imagine how big God’s love is. We fear death because it seems to be a complete negation of love. It’s a horizon that closes off the indefinite future to us. Although death relativizes all of our grand designs, it is our faith and hope that God defeated death with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s love won out. Therefore, love can defy death, because death tried but failed to annihilate it. Love (God’s love) never ends. Therefore, a good and healthy perspective concerning death is to believe that if we die, we will be with God. Meanwhile, while we live and love here on earth, God is with us. Nothing can separate us from the Lord Jesus Christ Who Is Love. Horizons Remote rim of Defining distance; Limiting level; Boundary and Baseline border; Yet, immanent eyereach, Visible field of view, Seeable scope as well; Depending upon my Participating position and Perceptual parallax. Junction of sea and sky, Where heaven exits earth, While earth hugs heaven; It is you who say: “This far and no farther; That is all there is.” But the third eye Of faith sees


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Signs of a Shifting spectrum; Where hope hints That love’s limit Is always lifting. It is there that, Revelation recedes, Exceeding reason’s reach; Until love beckons beyond My alluring illusion of Visible invisibility and Unrealized reality; Providing new questions of, Unfinalized finality.

LOYALTY “An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.” —Elbert Hubbard6

In its etymology, the word “loyalty” comes from the Old English word leal, when stories of knighthood stirred the English people. Originally, leal was related to feal (from which we get “fealty”) and implied a sense of fidelity or allegiance.7 As an honorable character trait and virtue, loyalty can be faithfulness to a cause larger than one’s self, whether in the form of a great person (like a king) or an ideal, custom, or duty. In the Middle Ages, loyalty could be formalized and cemented through elaborate ceremonies, vows, oaths, promises, involuntary tribute-paying, and voluntary gift-giving. Some or all of these practices may—or may not—pertain to expressions of loyalty today. However we may live out our loyalties, the virtue of loyalty should never be in conflict with our conscience, personal ideals, or basic moral principles. Faith suggests loyalty. As a virtue, loyalty is a test of the sincerity of one’s faith.8 In the biblical book of Job, the tension between faith and loyalty is one of the leading themes. To be true to himself, Job must not waver in his loyalty to His God. As much as the circumstances may pull him in one direction, truth and reality as he knows it in his innermost heart pull him in the other.9 Let’s take this meditation on loyalty a little further: If Jesus did so much for you on the cross, does that act of love not purchase some deserved loyalty? Loyalty also finds a respectable place in philosophy. In Plato’s dialogue Phaedo, Socrates is a classic paradigm of one who, even in the face of


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imminent death, chooses to remain loyal to his country, his God, and, above all, to his innermost soul.10 Loyalty is all about social relationships. Loyalty has enabled tribes, families, churches, states, political parties, businesses, and nations to survive and evolve. As a virtue, Loyalty finds its true roots in love and justice.11 Unfortunately, loyalty can be terribly misplaced and abused, even turning into murderous fanaticism. Loyalty unchecked by wisdom and justice ends up becoming a horrible vice: the Mafia requires absolute loyalty from its members; the Nazi Party demanded unqualified blind allegiance. Here conformism and support of the status quo are absolutely required. Even in a free and democratic society, groups that are fearful of foreigners or strangers can fall into distorted forms of loyalty such as, “My country, right or wrong.” At this juncture, the ancient philosopher Plato has some wisdom to share with us. He urges us to consider what constitutes genuine loyalty. For Plato, only a just man can be truly loyal.12 Translating Plato into the present: Only a just man can resist tremendous social pressures to put one’s own group above justice. The Cardinal Virtue of prudence requires loyalty to a particular person, ideal, duty, or cause in the context of love, justice, and truth. Without this, so-called loyalty is but a sham, foolishness, or dangerous fanaticism. Lady Loyalty Daughter of love And justice, Born in unswerving Timeless truth; Becoming mother Of victory; Echo of eternity. Noble in nature, Spiced with simplicity; Your word once spoken, Is rarely broken, An obedient bond; Oracular oath. As vibrant virtue, You knowingly kneel In childlike devotion; Constant conviction. First Found in fidelity, Then acting in adoration


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And surrendered submission Of will and opinion; With diligent duty, You swear allegiance to God, country, family, or friend. Your aroma is the Sweet smelling flower, Pledge of paradise; A sacred seed of earth, When fully grown; Becoming known Only in heaven. It is you who Effectively acknowledge That there must be Eventually; ultimately A heavenly superior.

NOTES 1. “Virtue,” From Alan Fitzgerald, John C. Cavadini, ed., Augustine Through The Ages, An Encyclopedia, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999) p. 145 Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=GcVhAGpvTQ0C&pg=PA873 &dq=love+is+the+life+of+virtue+augustine#v=onepage&q=love%20is%20the%20 life%20of%20virtue%20augustine&f=false (accessed 10/21/2009) See also “Love,” Augustine, De Laudibus Quartets, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09397a.htm (accessed 10/21/2009). 2. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 23, Article 8, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO:, Advent International, 2009.) See also http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3023 .htm#article8 (accessed 10/21/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 62, Articles 1–4, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2062 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/21/2009). 4. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 20, Article 2, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1020 .htm#article2 (accessed 10/20/2009). 5. “Agape (Love),” From Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, S. J., Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, ( Englewood Cliffs,


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NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Sections 48:24, 51:78, 55:28, 56:17,31, 60:12, pp. 231, 271, 340, 344, 347, 380. 6. Attributed to Elbert Hubbard, From Richard A. Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations: Life’s Ideal, (New York, NY: Algora Publishing Co., 2002) p.276 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=2k96AB7VU7YC& pg=PA276&dq=quotation+An+ounce+of+loyalty+is+worth+a+pound+of+clevernes s.#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/22/2009). 7. “Loyalty” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=loyalty&searchmode=none (accessed 10/22/2009). 8. “Faith/Emunah,” From David L. Jeffrey, ed., A Dictionary Of Biblical Tradition In English Literature, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992) p. 265. 9. Book of Job, From Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer,S.J., Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Section 31:1–130, pp. 511–533. 10. Plato, Phaedo, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Benjamin Jowett, transl., The Portable Plato, (New York, NY: Viking Press, 1994, Original, 1948) Found online at Internet Classics website at http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html (accessed 10/22/2009). 11. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 58, Articles 1–12, Question 62, Articles 1–4, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/3058.htm#article1 and http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/2062.htm#article1 (accessed 10/22/2009). 12. Plato, Phaedo, The Republic Books I & 2, and The Laws, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Benjamin Jowett, transl., The Portable Plato, (New York, NY: Viking Press, 1994, Original, 1948) Found online at Internet Classics website at http:// classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedo.html, http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.mb.txt, and http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/laws.mb.txt (accessed 10/22/2009).


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Chapter Seventeen

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MERCY “The quality of mercy is not strained” —William Shakespeare1

It is said that it is impossible for us as human beings to out-give God and that all we can really do to imitate God is to forgive. This time etymology doesn’t help us all that much. “Mercy” is a word that came into our language from the Latin word merced which means “wages or the price paid for something.”2 Clearly, the meaning has shifted over time. As a virtue, mercy shows compassion and kindness toward offenders. It often begins with forgiveness. But mercy is wider than forgiveness; it is “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power.”3 Mercy comes from within; it cannot be compelled by outside forces. We are told over thirty times in the Psalms that “God’s mercy endures forever,”4 Psalms 106,107, 118, 136, 138). From God’s inexhaustible reservoir of mercy we can always draw to live out the virtue of mercy and its companions, the virtues of kindness and compassion ( Psalm 145:8, Romans 9:15).5 Sometimes it’s difficult to reconcile the virtues of justice and mercy; when justice demands punishment, mercy forbears. On the other hand, justice demands that we give to others what they deserve by virtue of their status as human beings. That is why feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick or imprisoned, and forgiving offenses are “works of mercy”—but they also render justice by right.6 Ultimately, mercy goes beyond merely what people deserve by right; it gives to others more than they justly deserve. 119


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Love is the soul of this virtue. Sweet mercy seasons justice and makes it perfect. Therefore, the attitude that accompanies works of mercy is as important as the acts themselves. In art depicting Lady Justice, she is always blindfolded, carrying balanced scales—indicating that justice should be emotionally impassive, completely immoved by the pathos of the actual situation. However, mercy gives us the power to feel. If justice is the fulfillment of the law, then mercy must be the spirit of the law. The Greeks called this spirit of the law epikeia. Paul picks up this theme when he urges us to respond by faith to God’s grace given in Christ, serving God “in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:6) The law, in and of itself, cannot bring life. We need the Holy Spirit. Here’s an illustration: Imagine driving a car past a yellow speed limit sign in a thickly settled area that reads “30 mph.” Under normal circumstances, we would no doubt try to keep our speedometer under 30 mph. However, imagine someone is driving in this same area with a child who has been badly injured in a bicycle accident and is headed toward the nearest hospital. Is the most important thing at that moment to be going 30 mph? I’m not talking about situation ethics here; I’m saying, along with a host of moral theologians, that saving human life is more important than following the letter of the law. I often recall a statement my dad used to make about his own future death and dying. He used to say that when he died and came before God face to face, he would never ask God for justice, only mercy. He believed that if he asked God for justice, that God would grant it to him, but then he wouldn’t like what he got. Those were wise words I will not soon forget. My dad has since passed on, so I’m assuming that when he died, he asked God for mercy instead of justice and received what he asked for. Here’s a poem that really is focused on humor, but it begins with a few lines on mercy from William Shakespeare’s, Merchant of Venice.7 The Quality Of Humor “The quality of mercy is not strained Dropping as gentle rain from heaven” The quality of humor ne’er feigned Rising as lifebread from leaven How precious is humor’s sense Unfound in the Land of Serious Cheerful laughter, a good defense Buoying on the Sea of Delirious Laughter’s spontaneous eruption A volcano deep in the soul Is a humdrum life’s interruption


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With enlightened burdens as goal Displayed in bodily animation To reveal an imperfect saint Pure elation, not self-inflation Black/white smeared with clown-paint Requiring a forgetting of self Humility, replacing your import Putting pride away on a shelf Remembering, play as a sport Radiating like childlike joys Levitating the spirit within When outright laughter annoys Found in eye-twink, smile, and grin Thriving on contrast or disparity The absurdity of paradox unfurled Irony, contradiction, incongruity Pointing to another world Humor depicts another reality Where what is unseen and unsaid Lacks total definitive clarity So is dressed up in laughter instead Rooted as faith in God above Providence is humor’s poetry Its aroma, hope-its essence, love Heaven’s rumor, humor’s epiphany

NOTES 1. William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act IV, sc.1, From Samuel Johnson, ed., William Shakespeare, Complete Works, With Life, Compendium, And Concordance, (Philadelphia, PA: Gebbie Publishing Co., 1896) p. 318 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=qhIWAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1PA318& dq=the+quality+of+mercy+is+not+strained+Merchant+of+Venice,+Act+IV,+Sc.+1,+ William+Shakespeare#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/22/2009). 2. “Mercy” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http:// www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=mercy&searchmode=none (accessed 10/22/2009). 3. (Ex.), Ps 145:8; Rom 9:15, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/ Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970.) See also, Jess Stein, ed., The Random House Dictionary of the English Language (New York, NY: Random House, 1967, 1966).


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4. (Ex.), Psalms 106; 107; 118; 136; 138, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board, (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 5. PS 145:8; ROM 9:15, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/National Conference of Catholic Bishops/ United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board, (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 6. From Lawrence Lovasik, ed., The Works of Mercy, (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1983), pp.1–32. 7. William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act IV, sc.1, From Samuel Johnson, ed., William Shakespeare, Complete Works, With Life, Compendium, And Concordance, (Philadelphia, PA: Gebbie Publishing Co., 1896) p. 318 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=qhIWAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1PA318& dq=the+quality+of+mercy+is+not+strained+Merchant+of+Venice,+Act+IV,+Sc.+1,+ William+Shakespeare#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/22/2009).


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OBEDIENCE Obedience is the practice of following commands and guidance and in being submissive to those in authority. As a virtue, obedience inclines the will to comply with the will of another who has the moral right to command. Like all virtues twisted, blind obedience to an immoral authority leads to horrors. Obedience comes from the Latin prefix ob (“toward”) and the verb oedire (“listening”), literally rendered “toward listening.”1 There is a difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is one of our five senses; it is our ear performing its function. The eardrum transfers the vibration of sound waves to the tiny bones in the inner ear; nerves carry these signals to the brain; the brain processes this information and interprets it; and finally we perceive the sound and react to it. If we’re not hearing-impaired, hearing simply happens. Listening, on the other hand, is a conscious choice, an active process that makes obedience possible.2 In the ancient Hebrew tongue, hearing, listening, and obedience all had “to hear” as their common root. Obedience came about as the result of hearing, then listening closely. Obedience presupposes that a person is hearing and listening closely to given commands and once given, to do them to the best of one’s ability. Obedience can be unconditional or conditional. If the command comes from the word, mind and will of God, it must be obeyed unconditionally. On the other hand, if the command comes from a fallible human being, the response is conditional on various factors such as: Does the person commanding have legitimate authority? Is the cause this person in authority represents a worthy cause? And, Does the order go against God and morality? 123


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In the New Testament, faith and obedience are inextricably joined. Paul wrote that faith begins with hearing (Greek: akoe) the word of God and results in obedience (Greek: hypakoe).3 James said that faith without works (i.e., practical obedience to God) “is dead” (James 2:20). In its most basic sense, the virtue of obedience is a human soul voluntarily following the commands of a heavenly superior (God), or His representatives on earth, to advance goodness. God’s “representatives on earth” may be the scriptures, legal contracts, monastic vows, or the offices of those in business or governmental authority. The virtue of obedience is a golden mean between rebelliousness or disobedience toward authority (a vice of deficiency) and exaggerated servility toward authority (a vice of excess). Whereas most vice springs from self-will, this virtue guards against many vices, particularly the insidious vice of pride.4 Aristotle said, “Wicked men obey from fear, good men from love.”5 Obedience as a virtue proceeds from love—but is also rooted in the Cardinal Virtue of justice, which gives authority its due.6 To be virtuous, obedience requires the virtue of prudence (for discernment about who, what and how to obey) and is aligned with the virtues of humility, loyalty, discretion, flexibility, and faithfulness. Obedience involves consecration of the heart and the soul’s surrender. Paradoxically, the virtue of obedience also commits us to stand with the oppressed—those whose free will has been crushed and who have been forced into cowed obedience—against their overbearing masters. Coerced obedience is dehumanizing and evil; authorities who rule this way must be resisted so goodness can prevail. Youth And Power Sling and stone in hand of youth, Once defeated power and force, As I grow old and long in tooth, Youth and power become discourse. I’ve no Philistine battles now, All heads remain intact, Any indentations in the brow, Are mine, as a matter of fact. Fearsome Goliaths still gather, As stud competes with steed, Bellowing blither and blather, To which I hold no heed. I once may have resembled, That bold and faith-filled lad, Today, the thing that trembles, Is my hand as I pen to pad.


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“Mine not to make reply, Mine not to reason why, Mine but to do and die:” Youth gone; death nigh. Youth, drawn only in dream, Power, never in fact, existing, Though war whoop is on the wane, I’m older, but still listening. I need not cringe or cower as Death’s giant shadow looms large, Neither David possessor of the power, Nor am I the champion of the charge.

OPENNESS Openness is a virtue characterized by receptivity to new ideas, suggestions, or experiences. To be open is to be inwardly available in one’s orientation to the good; to not be closed to transcendence. As a virtue, openness fosters an attitude of trust, ready accessibility, and approachability; it also enables us to seek goodness through the use of reason. With the practice of this virtue, we begin to develop habits free from the vices of bias, prejudice, and unreasoned judgment. These vices block out light, truth, and virtue and end up being the “reason” of the ignorant. When we are open, we can freely choose to remove any barriers to grace. We will be free from reserve or pretense. We can then invite the abiding presence of God, which enables and empowers us, to become people other than who we are; people better than who we are on the path to goodness. The virtue of openness implies that there may be occasions where we let our guard down and become very vulnerable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since without vulnerability, we cannot grow in the virtue of love. Openness also implies that we are open to correction or criticism of our current knowledge. In order to be open, we must create some space within ourselves to sacrifice our own personal interests and agendas for a higher purpose. This requires not only further conversion in our orientation to the good, but also unlearning and relearning. All reality has a mysterious character. The virtue of openness leads to a new way of seeing reality. To be open is to be aware that there is more going on and more to life than what we can see with our eyes. It is also a profound awareness that all reality is imbued with the hidden presence of God who desires for us only the greatest good. This good is available to us through the grace—if we are receptively open to transformation.7


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Faith is not a once-forever decision—it is a process. Faith depends upon the habitual disposition of our mind and heart toward God and goodness. Openness as an expression of genuine humility is a virtue that increases our faith. When we are open and honest with ourselves, we will also recognize our human limitations and incompleteness. We can then be receptive, candid, and transparent with others. The virtue of openness doesn’t mean we must be open to anything and everything. Good openness requires reflection, contemplation, discretion, and discernment; it must be guided by and grounded in the Cardinal Virtue of prudence.8 In that it enlarges and expands our horizons, openness comports with the virtues of hope and truthfulness. The more open we are to genuine goodness and reason, the more we will be sensitive to the demands of the Cardinal Virtue of justice and the rights and needs of other people.9 Open Reflection Sun is source of day, Also source of night, Moon has no way, Of generating light. Receptively like moon; My role is to reflect, Eclipse, will disappear soon, Sorry—not quite perfect! Often pensive, apprehensive, Getting deeply lost in thought, God-pondering, prayer-attentive, Desiring reflection, as I ought. Concentrate, contemplate, deliberate! I’m still not reflecting yet, Meditate, ruminate, anticipate! Is there something I don’t get? Ah! Be open, so light can enter, Surface is not what’s reflecting, Light finds grace at my center; Prismatic silence, thoughts genuflecting.

NOTES 1. “Obey,” “Obedience,” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=obey&searchmode=none, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=obedience&searchmode=none.


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2. From Michael Rost, Teaching And Researching Listening: Applied Linguistics In Action, (White Plains, NY: Longman Publishing, 2001) p. 8 Found online at Google books.com http://books.google.com/books?id=jBM4qQQ6YJUC&dq=Teaching+and+ Researching+Listening+page+8+Michael+Rost (accessed 10/22/2009). 3. “Obedience,” From Raymond E. Brown,S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer,S.J., Roland E. Murphy,O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Sections 2:71–73, 3:50, 4:38, 9:26, 33:16, 50:19, 53:16,121–124, 139–140, 54:10, 79:125, Old Testament pp. 21–23, 57, 79, 170, 544, New Testament pp. 251, 294, 326–327, 330–331, 333, 821. 4. Aristotle, Politics, Book II, Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Internet Classics Archives, (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994) http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.mb.txt (accessed 10/22/2009). 5. Attributed to Aristotle, From Richard A. Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations: Life’s Ideal, (New York, NY: Algora Publishing Co., 2002), p.255. 6. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 161, Articles 1–6, Question 162, Articles 1–8, Question 80, Article 1, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3161 .htm#article1 and http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3162.htm#article1 and http:// www.newadvent.org/summa/3080.htm#article1 (accessed 10/22/2009). 7. From Richard McBrien, Catholicism, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Richard McBrien, ed., New Edition, 1994) pp. 935–937 See also, Alan Richardson, ed., Westminster Dictionary of Theology, (Ann Arbor, MI: Westminster Press, 1969) p. 1196 and Kern Trembath, Evangelical Theories of Biblical Inspiration, (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1987) p. 137. 8. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 47, Articles 1–16, Question 48, Article 1, Question 50, Articles 1–4, Question 51, Articles 1–4, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3047.htm#article, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3050.htm#article1, and http://www.newadvent .org/summa/3051.htm#article1 (accessed 10/25/2009). 9. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book V, Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., Translated by W.D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives, (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994) See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen .mb.txt (accessed 10/25/2009). See also, Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 58, Articles 1–12, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website http://www.new advent.org/summa/3058.htm#article1 (accessed 10/25/2009).


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PATIENCE “Patience is the companion of wisdom.” —Augustine1

“Patience” can be defined as the ability to bear pain or trials calmly while enduring waiting or delay. The patient person is not hasty or impetuous, but persevering and steadfast despite difficulties or adversity. As a virtue, patience depends upon the future-orientated nature of hope, trusting that longsuffering, endurance, and steadfastness will pay off.2 Patience also draws strength from the Cardinal Virtue of courage; we must bravely endure for the sake of the good.3 Patience may look passive, but it actually manifests itself in an active spirit of resistance toward wrong. Patience may look withdrawing, but as a social virtue it turns our inner thoughts into words and public actions that our fellow men and women see, particularly when we are going through trials or adversity. In the ancient world, the Jewish community saw patience as one of the attributes of a just and loving God. God first described himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai by proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. . .” (Exodus 34:6–7) This description of the patient nature of God is reinforced a total of ten times throughout the Old Testament4 to make sure the message wasn’t lost on anyone.

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The Biblical character Job is a classic model of patience. In a single day, except for a complaining wife, he loses everything—sons, daughters, flocks, herds, and health. The rest of the book is about how Job and his friends wrestle with the problem of innocent and not-so-innocent suffering. Patience, along with Job’s faith and hope in God, ultimately bring him a providential outcome.5 In the New Testament, Jesus became righteously angry at times, but he is the perfect gospel model of patience in his love, longsuffering, steadfastness, and endurance to the end. In Paul’s letters, patience becomes a fruit of the spirit of love. “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience. . .”6, (Galatians 5:22) “Love is patient. . .”7, (1 Corinthians 13:4) In the New Testament, the Greek word for patience is makrothumia, a combination of makro (“long”) and thumia (“temper.”) A person with patience was seen as long-tempered.8 All of us have at one time or another squirmed around people who are short-tempered; in contrast, long-tempered people are able to absorb life’s trials and annoyances without exploding in anger and losing their cool. The vice of impatience has its root in pride. In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis repeatedly points out how easily we can identify the vice of pride in others, but how difficult it is to see it in ourselves.9 We are all imperfect people and we all need to change some things about ourselves. As for how patience touches the other virtues: the Cardinal Virtue of prudence teaches us to discern what about ourselves requires change. The virtue of humble self estimation enables us to see who we really are. One of the greatest tests of anyone’s patience is to accept and patiently bear with one’s own less-than honorable faults, failings, and imperfections.10 Patience Child of hope And love, Steadfast gift From above, Sister of Wisdom, Courage too; It’s in light of adversity, That you shine through. Longsuffering endurance, No matter fortune or fate, Patience comes, But you might Have to wait.


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PEACEFULNESS “Steadfast love and faithfulness shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.” —(Psalm 85:10)

Peacefulness is that virtue in which one practices calm and tranquil behavior in an effort to bring out the goodness found in mutual concord and harmonious personal relationships. This virtue also frees us from our own disquieted, troubled, aggressive, or disturbing thoughts and emotions. The concept of peace is perhaps one of the most controversial in our time. It carries a positive connotation, because few of us would admit to opposing peace—but people differ radically about what peace entails and how best to achieve it. Peace is thus linked to other concepts within any particular perception of reality. It cannot stand solely on its own. Peace is defined in the dictionary as “a state of tranquility, order, and quiet; freedom from disturbance; mutual harmony; and the absence of conflict.”11 These descriptions are all true, of course, but they miss the centrality of what brings peace about—the virtues of love and justice.12 It is easier to see what peace is, but much harder to see what brings it about or how it begins in the first place. There can be no outward peace without inner peace present in our own souls. As we have seen, in Bible times shalom meant peace, prosperity, wellbeing, harmonious relationships, and wholeness. To the ancient Hebrews, wholeness and holiness belonged together. Shalom naturally emerged from the covenant of peace that was a gift from God. It could not exist without beginning with a thirst for hesed (“steadfast love”) and sedakah (“justice”), both within individual humans and the entire community.13 In this context, peace takes on a deeper spiritual meaning, losing the narrowness of being applied to only material things. It begins to encompass the wholeness and totality of our lives. One of the New Testament references to Jesus is that he becomes for us “the Prince of Peace.”14 If peace on earth is important to us and we are truly interested in practicing the virtue of peacefulness, then we will see that it cannot be separated from the virtues of love and justice. We will desire peace, not only in the world, but in our extended family, our home family, and first and foremost within ourselves. That concern will eventually mushroom into concern about issues like third-world debt; famine and starvation in places like Haiti and Africa; wars


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in far away places; and stewardship over the environment. We will begin to develop a much broader definition not only of “peace,” but of “family.” A Shattered Peace Years of Christmas cards wishing “Peace on earth, good will to men” Prayers offered up like The Peace Prayer of St. Francis; “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace” The play “Hair” proclaimed The dawning of the Age of Aquarius; We held hands and Sang songs like “Peace is flowing like a river” “Give peace a chance.” Peace doves with olive branches; Lions lying down with lambs; Gospel verses like “Blessed are the peacemakers” Religious people giving the kiss of peace; Peace movements asking for an end to all wars; Peace signs and two-finger V’s; A Peace Corps assisting underdeveloped countries; A United Nations Peacekeeping Force, Keeping peace in the world; Yet still, No love; no justice, No justice; no peace! No peace on earth without Peace between brothers and sisters; No peace between brothers and sisters, Without peace within; No peace within Without wholeness; No wholiness Without holiness; And I am but a A shattered peaceA scattered piece. Shalom!


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PERSEVERENCE “When you are wrestling a gorilla, you don’t quit when you are tired, you quit when the gorilla is tired.” —Attributed to Robert Strauss15

“Persevere” came into our language from the Latin perseverus which meant “very strict or earnest.”16 As a virtue, perseverance is a constant, determined, and prolonged effort to break down resistance and remove obstacles. It is often carried out resolutely in the midst of trials. Perseverant people possess a determined attitude which allows them to focus their efforts on the goodness of their goals until a task is finished. The virtue of perseverance gives one a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, or a belief. Perseverance is closely related to the virtues of courage, hope, patience, and discipline. In the Old Testament of the Bible, recall the steadfastness of Job who persevered through a long season of suffering and many trials.17 In the New Testament books of James and Hebrews, we are told, “Blessed are those who persevere” (James 5:10), and prodded with, “Run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1). The gospels tell us that the seed of the Word of God (and the gospel) grows well in rich soil (a generous and good heart), and ultimately will bear much mature fruit if we persevere. Throughout the New Testament, this virtue is applied particularly to prayer. We are “to pray with perseverance.”18 In a couple of more modern examples, Thomas Edison and his team of experimenters tried thousands of ways to make a light bulb. Ever perseverant, Edison explained, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” At one of the darkest times in England’s history, in an early stage of World War II, Winston Churchill gave a speech to students in which he intoned, “Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!”19 The pursuit of virtue demands just such perseverance. Perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan once estimated that in his long and lustrous career he probably missed 9,000 hoop shots and lost 300 close games. Furthermore, in the final few seconds of 26 games he was given the ball and he missed the potential game- winning shot. He failed over and over and over again. Then he balanced this by saying, “That’s why I’ve succeeded.”20 You can’t know what winning is like until you know what failure is like; you must practice perseverance through the failure, regardless. Teaching children this virtue is also a very difficult task today because, especially in sports, it can cross a line and become a vice of excess, “winning at all costs.” The virtue of perseverance is also particularly necessary in maintaining close relationships. This applies especially to marriages, relationships within


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families, and between friends. Because perseverance is so closely tied to the virtue of discipline, it should also be noted that the virtues of perseverance and discipline can cross a line and develop into the vices of stubbornness or pride. This virtue needs to be balanced with the virtues of prudence, flexibility, patience, and humility. I speak as one who has been slow to learn. Lady Perseverence She cries out diligently To all who will listen: Never give up! Never give up! Never give up! Talent, Education and Genius All have given birth To many great works, But it is Perseverance; Who, as a loving Step-mother, has always Raised their babies, Bringing them To adolescence, Then full maturity. She is The daughter of Courage and Hope, The sister of Patience and Discipline; Being long wed to Failure, Her wise and devoted husband, She has since become The birth-mother of Good Luck.

PRIDE “Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity.” —Anonymous21

We may seldom think of pride as a virtue, but there are actually two kinds of pride: (a) overweaning self-important pride, and (b) pride that respects oneself and one’s God-given gifts enough to strive for excellence and goodness.


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The first is unhitched from reality; the other is grounded in it. One must have some form of pride in the second sense or we wouldn’t think ourselves ever worthy of happiness or bliss. Pride in the second sense can be a commitment, but it can also be an emotional response. We do not fault an athlete from feeling exhilarated at winning a race, a child for feeling good about being patted on the back for a job well done or a wife for feeling lifted up after being praised by her husband (or a husband by his wife)-these are good things. For pride to be virtuous, it must be aligned with the virtues of prudence and humility. Aristotle described pride as the crown of the virtues, because it calls upon each of them and honors them.22 He was talking about the second kind of pride. I am certain, however, far more often than not, that pride is the deadliest of all vices. Thomas Aquinas said, “All sins may arise from pride,” and “Pride is the most grievous sin.”23 Fulton Sheen described it as “the excessive love of one’s own excellence.”24 Its supreme deadliness as a vice comes from its inherent self-deception, its overestimation of one’s own worth, its withdrawal from Almighty God, and its putting down of others. People full of this kind of pride are “full of themselves.” The viceful kind of pride is opposed to right-thinking and right-reason. Justifiably it is called “sin,” separation from God and from our fellow man. It tends toward isolation; ultimately it will move us to be completely alone. For someone in the unhealthy prideful frame of mind, all virtue and goodness fly out the window. A person in the grip of sinful pride turns his back on God and goodness, not through ignorance or weakness, but through self-exaltation. This path is the way the devil became the devil, the original sin that sparked the fall of Lucifer from heaven. On this kind of pride, C. S. Lewis, the author of Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, says the six other deadly sins—anger, lust, envy, gluttony, greed, and sloth—are nothing in comparison.25 The church has been using the “seven deadly sins” to school Christians in self-examination and for guidance in spiritual formation since the 4th century. In preaching and illustrations, pride the root-and-trunk of evil and the other deadly sins are the main branches. Ironically, we loathe pride when we see it in others (and it sure is easy to find in them!), but we have great difficulty in hunting it out in ourselves. The bad kind of pride is particularly insidious and offensive when it runs relatively unchecked in professedly religious people, especially when they move into positions of spiritual leadership and authority. They bring significant harm to themselves, but they bring untold misery and grief with their spiritual manipulation and abuse. This perversion of religion is the antithesis of what following Jesus is supposed to look like.


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Sinful pride is competitive by nature. Each person’s pride is in competition with everyone else’s. The more we have in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis points out how it is competition which makes us proud and once the competition is eliminated, pride is gone.26 Along with Christian thinkers through the ages, Aquinas and Lewis taught that the opposite of the vice of pride is the virtue of humility.27 The truly humble person will not be even thinking about humility; she or he will not be thinking about self at all. The following poem is an acrostic meditation. sEVEn Prompting the occasion for ALL sin I Rise from a self-love which emphasizes the I. Devilish and cunning, I refuse subordination, Even to God. Counter to liberality and Often called avarice, I’m Very much in love with Earthly Things. I Need wealth and am Greedy. Loving the carnal, my Unbridled urges Sin against Temperance. As sin I place No value on courage. Given no meekness, I Exact my Righteous revenge. Given to excess Longing for food or Urged to drinking, I Then sin against Temperance. I Only say No to moderation; Yes to all else.


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Empty, I Need Very much what You have. Sinning against courage, I’m Lazy and Object To activity. I Hate work.

PRUDENCE “The shrewd person does everything with Prudence.” —(Proverbs 13:16)

Our word “prudence” translates Latin prudens (sagacity, foresight), incidentally, the same root word as for providence.28 As a virtue, prudence is “the exercising of sagacity, shrewdness, and good judgment in decision making.”29 Aristotle spoke of two intellectual virtues: wisdom (Greek: sophia), knowledge of the world as it is, as well as contemplation of universal truths); and prudence (Greek: phronesis), the application of reason to specific situations in order to effect positive change. He taught, “It is thought to be the mark of a man of practical wisdom to deliberate well.”30 Aristotle’s phronesis corresponds to the Hebrew word chokmah, the practical wisdom especially celebrated in the Wisdom Books of the Bible. But in the Bible, the virtue of prudence includes the disposition necessary to respond to the movements of God’s grace. Prudence involves receptivity, reflection, desire, industry, self-control, mastery over sensual desires, and moderation of appetites. As we have already seen, prudence is one of the four Cardinal Virtues along with justice, temperance, and courage. As the “rudder virtue” it steers the course; without prudence there can be no clear direction for decisionmaking, whether we’re talking about one’s intellectual or moral life.31 Prudence guides conscience and empowers discernment. A prudent person prays, uses foresight based upon previous experience, weighs circumstances, analyzes alternatives, anticipates obstacles, seeks out and listens to the counsel of others, orients his or her moral compass toward the “true North” of goodness, and carefully plans before making any major decisions. A prudent person is also a keen observer of other people and learns from other’s achievements and mistakes.


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Memory plays an integral part in the exercise of this virtue. Memory is not merely recalling experiences, but learning from those experiences. With accumulated experiences and applied memory, prudent people listen attentively, are highly intuitive, and have the ability to shrewdly pick up on small trace clues and run with them. Prudent people anticipate the consequences of actions. A prudent person committed to honesty will see that sometimes brute honesty can cause pain, hurt feelings unnecessarily, and alienate people—and that other considerations may need to be factored in. Without humility in mind and self-estimation, we will never become prudent in judgment or decision-making. Decisions; Decisions With the unseen wind Of prayer Filling the sails Of my soul; I leave behind The safe harbor To chart a course Through the deep waters Of the sea Of life. With the rudder Of practical wisdom Steering my ship Toward destiny’s Distant shore; My memory warns Of siren’s songs, And I anticipate The shoals Of shallowness On either side. I know not my unseen Final destination Lying beyond the horizon; But, I see with my scope, Heaven rising from earth. I sail on and on, Knowing that though the sea is Fathomless, tumultuous;


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And my ship so Small, fragile; Other sea-captains Have gazed at these Self-same stars Of Providence, And been guided As they decided On the direction Of their journey.

NOTES 1. “Patience,” Augustine, From Richard A. Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations, Life’s Ideal, (New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2002) p.141 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=HgM4tztnJFcC&pg=PR8&dq =Civilization%E2%80%99s+Quotations+Richard+Krieger+page+141#v=onepage& q=&f=false (accessed 10/25/2009). 2. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 136, Articles 1–5, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3136 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/25/2009). 3. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 128, Article 1, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also New Advent at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3128.htm#article1 (accessed 10/25/2009). 4. “Patience,” From Raymond E. Brown,S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer,S.J., Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Sections 31:1–130; 59:33; 77:47–60, pp. 376, 511–533, 744–746. 5. “Book of Job,”, Raymond E. Brown,S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer,S.J., Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Section 31:1–130 pp. 511–533. 6. Job 42:7–17, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970) Gal 5:22, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 7. 1 Cor 13:4, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970. 8. “Makrothumia: The Divine Patience,” William Barclay ed., New Testament Words, (Louisville, KY: John Knox/ Westminster Press, 2000) p. 196 Found at


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Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=ngnOdquk9DUC&pg=PA8& dq=new+testament+words+william+barclay+makrothumia+196#v=onepage&q=& f=false (accessed 10/25/2009). 9. “Pride,” C.S. Lewis, From Walter Hooper, ed., Mere Christianity, ch. VII, (New York, NY: Harpercollins Publishers, 2004) p.8 Found online at Googlebooks .com http://books.google.com/books?id=8RejTBkMnu4C&pg=PA88&dq=Mere+ Christianity+C.+S.+Lewis+pride#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/25/2009). 10. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Articles 1–5, Question 136, Articles 1–5, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) S http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2061 .htm#article1http://www.newadvent.org/summa/. 11. “Peace,” From Henry B. Woolf, Editor-In-Chief, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Co., 1974) p. 842. 12. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 29, Articles 1–4, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also New Advent at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3029.htm#article1 (accessed 10/26/2009). 13. Is 9:6; New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board Of Trustees/ National Conference Of Catholic Bishops/ United States Catholic Conference, Administrative And Editorial Committee/Board, (New York, NY Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970) See also, “Shalom,” from Ronald Eisenberg, The JPS Guide To Jewish Traditions, (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, Ellen Frankel, Editor-In Chief, 2004) p. 649 Found at http://books .google.com/books?id=_qGHi_9K154C&pg=PR16IA2&dq=JPS+GUIDE+EISEN BERG+page+649+shalom#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/26/2009). 14. Jn 14:27, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board Of Trustees/ National Conference Of Catholic Bishops/ United States Catholic Conference, Administrative And Editorial Committee/Board, (New York, NY: Catholic Book Pub. Co., 1970). 15. Attributed to Robert Straus, From Phillip M. Parker, ed., Icon Group, Webster’s Quotations, Facts, and Phrases,(Springfield, MA: Merriam Webster Co., 2008) p.4 Found at googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=6pXNrT8ebzQC& pg=PA4&dq=When+you+are+wrestling+a+gorilla,+you+don%E2%80%99t+quit+ when+you+are+wrestling+a+gorilla++Webster%E2%80%99s+Quotations+Robert+ Strauss#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/26/2009). 16. “Persevere,” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=persevere&searchmode=none (accessed 10/26/2009). 17. “Book of Job,” From Raymond E. Brown,S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer,S.J., Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Commentary, ( Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Section 31:1–130, pp. 511–533. 18. Lk 11:1–13; Eph 6:18; Rom 12:12, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/Board, ed., (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970).


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19. Attributed to Winston Churchill, (In a speech given to schoolchildren on Oct. 29, 1941), From Don Hawkins, Never Give Up!, (San Bernadino, CA: Here’s Life Publishing, 1992) p.266. 20. Attributed to Michael Jordan, From Grant Rice, ed., Sports In America, (Darby, PA: Diane Publishing, 1976) p. 40 Found online at googlebooks.com http:// books.google.com/books?id= wOTlvYwvEOwC&pg=PA40&dq=michael+jordan+9 000+shots+300+close+games&lr=#v=onepage&q=michael%20jordan%209000%20 shots%20300%20close%20games&f=false (accessed 10/26/2009). 21. “Pride,” from unknown author, (Markham, On., CAN: Finestquotes), See the Finestquotes.com Website at http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-categoryPride-page-0.htm (accessed 10/28/2009). 22. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book IV, ch. 3, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives, (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/27/2009). 23. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 162, Articles 1–8 , Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3162 .htm#article1 (accessed 10/27/2009). 24. Fulton J. Sheen, from Carl E. Olson, ed., Life Is Worth Living, (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1999) p.200. 25. “The Great Sin,” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, from Walter Hooper, ed., (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishing, 2001)pp. 121–128 See also C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Walter Hooper, ed., (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishing, 2001). 26. “Pride,” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, from Walter Hooper, ed., (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishing, 2001) p.121. 27. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 4, Article 7, Ans. 1, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3004. htm#article7 (accessed 10/27/2009). See also, C. S. Lewis, from Walter Hooper, ed., Mere Christianity, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishing, 2001) pp. 121–128. 28. “Prudence” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=prudence&searchmode=none. 29. “Prudence,” From Henry B. Woolf, Editor-In-Chief, Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Co., 1974) p. 929. 30. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book VI, ch. 7, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/27/2009). 31. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/2061.htm#article1 (accessed 10/21/2009).


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Chapter Twenty

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RELIABILITY “Love all, trust a few.” —William Shakespeare1

The verb “to rely” comes from the Latin religare meaning “to fasten or bind,” also to make secure by fastening down (with ropes, winches, concrete, or whatever works).2 The adjective “reliable” comes from “rely” plus “able.” A reliable person is someone who makes things secure.3 If you’re reliable, other people depend upon and trust in you and your ability. They have confidence in you because you consistently keep the commitments you’ve made; you’re as good as your word; you accept responsibility; and you always give your best. Even under the worst of circumstances, people can count on you. Those who possess the virtue of reliability also possess integrity, prudence, trustworthiness, honesty, loyalty, and honor. Most people do not want to be seen as unreliable, but there are many more who want, for selfish reasons, to convey the appearance of reliability. The vice of unreliability is rooted in pride. Adverse circumstances magnify the importance of reliability. As the great Roman orator Cicero said, “The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.”4 Reliability can manifest itself in material and in non-material (social and spiritual) ways. A contractor who consistently finishes jobs on time and within budget is reliable materially. A husband or wife who consistently follows through on marriage vows is reliable non-materially. We see that establishing reliability isn’t a one-time event; it is proven through testing and over time. 141


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Being reliable is not about meticulously following rules and regulations. Rather, it is an application of an array of moral principles to concrete situations and challenges. Reliability demands ethical character and does not violate the dictates of conscience. As Jesus said, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” (Luke 16:10, KJV). Perfect reliability is an ideal. However, we are limited human beings; no one is reliable on every subject or in every domain of conduct. None of us is absolutely good, save God alone. None of us is totally and completely self-sufficient; we are all interdependent to some extent and need to rely on others. If these things are true, then who can be relied upon? And when is it appropriate to rely on another imperfect human being? The answer must come through the practice of the Cardinal Virtue of prudence. As humorist Finley Peter Dunne has said, “Trust everyone, but cut the cards.”5 On Reliability I’m told to love all But only trust a few I know that if I call I can count on you You are “semper fi” Time; trial tested On you I can rely Total trust invested You are true-blue friend Loyal, able, honest On you I can depend Whatever task or promise Always giving your best Ever keeping your word Different than the rest Committed, undeterred With my faith and trust In you; your ability I know that I can just Consider it “fait accompli”

NOTES 1. William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well, Act I, sc.1, from C. S. Rex, ed., Shakespearean Quotations, (Philadelphia, PA: Penn Publishing Co., 1910)


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p.136 Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=p4sVAAAAYAAJ&pg =PA136&dq=quotation+love+all+trust+a+few+william+shakespeare#v=onepage &q=&f=false. 2. “Rely” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www. etymonline.com/index.php?search=rely&searchmode=none (accessed 10/29/2009). 3. “Reliance” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at etymonline.com, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=reliance&searchmode =none (accessed10/29/2009). 4. Marcus Tulius Cicero, De Amicitia, from M. Kumar, S. B. Nangia, ed., Dictionary of Quotations, (New Delhi, IND: APH Publishing, 2008) p.71 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=N0VKD37eY94C&pg=PA71 &dq=quotation+the+shifts+of+fortune+tests+the+reliability+of+friends#v=onepage &q=&f=false (accessed 10/29/2009). 5. Attributed to Finley Peter Dunne, from Richard Krieger, ed., Civilization’s Quotations, Life’s Ideal (New York, NY: Algora Publishing, 2002) p.84 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=2k96AB7VU7YC&pg=PA 84&dq=Finley+Peter+Dunne+Trust+everyone,+but+cut+the+cards#v=onepage&q= &f=false


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Chapter Twenty-One

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SILENCE To begin this chapter, I apologize for all the words you’re about to read on the virtue of silence. I am aware of the irony. To write, analyze, dissect and tease out meanings of words when the subject is silence seems like a contradiction. Besides, all the virtues are better practiced than merely spoken about. However, rather than saying nothing about silence, I will break down and share a few meager thoughts and let the Holy Spirit take it from there. The virtue of silence is the most underrated and overlooked of all the virtues. Silence is the eloquence of the virtue of prudence. Aligned with the virtues of peace, patience, discretion, tolerance, and humility, Jewish tradition calls silence “a fence around wisdom, and it is a blanket over folly.”1 As a virtue, silence keeps secrets, stems anger, avoids disputes, prevents conflicts, and dams a flood of vices. Proverbs 10:19 says, “Where words are many, sin is not wanting; but he who restrains his lips does well. Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even a fool, if he keeps silent, is considered wise, if he closes his lips, intelligent.” Ecclesiastes 3:7 says, “A time to rend, and a time to sow; a time to be silent and a time to speak.” Silence in the face of wrongdoing or injustice can easily be seen as conveying approval of that wrongdoing or injustice. Sometimes we must courageously speak up. Not to do so is vice. A classic Bible verse on silence is: “Be still and confess that I am God! (Psalm 46:11). God speaks to us out of silence. We can only hear what is said if we still ourselves enough to listen. Silence and contemplation go together. Silence teaches us to become better listeners of others by first learning to listen to ourselves and to hear our own thoughts and feelings. This self-listening is a kind of contemplative prayer itself, a way of listening beyond ourselves 144


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to an inner silence, the realm of God’s Spirit. Contemplation is the silent, thoughtful, and prayerful art of any meditation, musing, observation, or activity. It involves the quieting of the mind, heart, and will, concentrating intently on spiritual or mystical realities. Our word “contemplation” derives from the Latin templum or “temple.” A temple is a holy, sacred place that is “set apart or set aside” from the mundane environment for super-mundane, spiritual purposes.2 When we go to a temple, the environs and the architecture are intended to still us, to quiet us down, to help set us aside or apart for higher purposes, to reflect, gather ourselves to begin any worthy process, and to find the silence. We can get similar inspiration from allowing God’s beauty to strike us in Nature: a walk in a forest, sitting by a seashore, experiencing the heat of the desert or the chill of a mountaintop. Obviously, in the type of fast-paced world we live in today, making time for silence is no easy task. However, we desperately need to find the time to practice the art of contemplation and enter the silence before any work or process begins. The Quakers call this quieting “centering down.” This contemplative centering-down prayer eventually takes us to a place inside where we are still and beyond any thoughts, images, ideas, feelings, or emotions—the place to properly begin any activity, the place to begin uniting our inner and outer worlds. Without contemplation, one wonders from what center anything would flow. Faith is not essentially intellectual or rational. Similarly, silence cannot be experienced intellectually or rationally because it goes beyond words formed in the mind. Fulton J. Sheen said, “Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebud, a child at play, a divine mystery, or a waterfall.”3 Ultimately, the virtue of silence should lead us to become “contemplatives in action.” Our lives are dominated by media, advertising, images and many, many words. We’re so accustomed to this swirling chaos that if we do manage to find the place of silence, it may seem to us like a void. But we shouldn’t always look for ways to fill the silence—so many vices begin with “the noise.” Reflections A glass mirror has no depth The only true mirror is water. In water can be seen more than my reflection If I really look deep.


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Unlike the glass mirror The water reflects Me inside itself. I reflect the water Inside myself if I really look deep. Deep speaks to deep Water speaks to water Silence speaks to silence. From the deep I reflect Like water when I Seek the lowest place.

SIMPLICITY “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” —Matthew 15:4

Simplicity is not the same as ignorance. The word “ignorance” comes from the Latin ignoscere, “not knowing” or “a lack of knowledge,”4 and is the state of being uninformed or unaware about some area of knowledge. Ignorance is not necessarily a bad thing: a bank manager may have little knowledge of nursing; a farmer may have little knowledge of the insurance industry. Ignorance can be self-imposed: sometimes people who could benefit from knowledge about something, and who could find out about it fairly easily, but are unwilling to make the effort. This is nothing other than laziness. Others may choose to remain ignorant of certain area of knowledge because they reason it could be harmful or undesirable for them to know (a person with a weakness for gambling might choose not to read a book entitled How To Win At Blackjack). In this sense, “Ignorance is bliss.”5 So, just because a person is ignorant does not make that person a “simpleton” (one of the definitions of simplicity).6 Furthermore, the equation of simplicity with “ignorant simpleton” (the village idiot?) is especially misleading when considering the virtue of simplicity. The virtue of simplicity denotes purity, lack of complications, and clarity. Simplicity implies freedom from pretense, guile, ornamentation, and ambiguity. It suggests directness in words, clarity in actions, and humbleness of life. The poet-philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, who for two years, two months and two days lived a spartan and simple life at his cabin at Walden Pond, advised people to “simplify-simplify.”7 To live simply does not necessarily mean living in poverty; it implies living an exam-


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ined, contemplative, uncomplicated, and reflective life. By doing this, one can determine exactly what is important and what is enough. As human beings created in God’s image, we yearn for a life of integrated simplicity; the more technology advances, the more complicated and complex living in the world becomes. These two pulls create psychic and spiritual tension within us—but that tension also creates spiritual hunger. The more complications and complexity grow, the more a life of integrated simplicity stands out from the norm and the more attractive it becomes. If we can make a conscious effort to live our lives deliberately along the lines of integrated simplicity, we’ll have a better chance at avoiding the temptations that come with a more complex life. We live in “the Information Age.” That doesn’t mean we live in “the Knowledge Age” or “the Wisdom Age.” We’re inundated with too much information; we don’t know how to sort things out or put them together. This is another reason we need simplicity. Simple things are understandable. Simplicity doesn’t occur when there is nothing more to add, as much as when there is nothing more to take away. As Thomas Aquinas said, “God is infinitely simple.”8 If we accept the fact simplicity is good, then we should make every attempt to associate with simple and loving people, letting their simplicity rub off on us. In them we may be able to hear the call of Lady Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1–5). The Simpleton’s Creed Let me be a simpleton, Mind seen as being weak; With freedom from complexity, The knowledge that I seek. Let me not seek common sense, To be my sole guiding light; Simplicity is certainly uncommon, Sense, common, but not always right. Help me to live but a simple life, Detached from possessions; pleasure, Allowing the bliss at my center, To be a guidepost and my measure. Let me reject ornamentation, Embellishment, ambiguity; Embrace humbleness of purpose, Childlike wisdom and acuity. Seek an emptying of self, As God grants His grace;


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Purity, humility, and love, Seen simply upon my face. Let not my wants be many, Trusting God to fill my need; A life reflecting His presence, In word as well as deed. Let my contentment grow with less, That others may live with a share, Some have more, others nothing, How can that be fair? Let simple never mean easy; I’m told this road will narrow, Let my comfort be in knowing, His eye is on the sparrow.

NOTES 1. Pirkei Avot 3:17, from Elyse D. Fishman, ed. & trans., Mishkan t’filah, complete, (New York NY: Central Conference of American Rabbis Press and Publishing, 2007) p. 89 Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=kx7la8tjDpY C&pg=PA89&dq=The+Torah,+Pirkei+Avot,+3:17+silence#v=onepage&q=The%20 Torah%2C%20Pirkei%20Avot%2C%203%3A17%20silence&f=false(accessed 10/29/2009). 2. “Contemplation” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=contemplation&searchmode=none (accessed 10/29/2009). 3. Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, from Larry Chang, ed., Wisdom for the Soul, (Washington, DC: Gnosophia Publishing Co., 2006) p. 649 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=-T3QhPjIxhIC&pg=RA1 PA649&d q=Fulton+J.+Sheen+Leisure +is+a+form+of+silence,+not+noiselessness.+It+is+the +silence+of+contemplation#v=onepage&q=Fulton%20J.%20Sheen%20Leisure%20 is%20a%20form%20of%20silence%2C%20not%20noiselessness.%20It%20is%20 the%20silence%20of%20contemplation&f=false (accessed 10/29/2009). 4. “Ignorant” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at etymonline.com http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=ignorant&searchmode= none (accessed 10/29/2009). 5. William Shakespeare, A Winter’s Tale, Act II, sc.1, from William Clark, ed., The Philosophy of William Shakespeare, (Oxford, ENG: Oxford University Press, 1857) p. 617 Found online at http://books.google.com/books?id=5Z8NAAAAQAAJ &pg=PA617&dq=The+philosophy+of+william+shakespeare+1857+a+winter%27s+ tale+ignorance+is+bliss#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/29/2009).


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6. “Simpleton, Simplicity” From Henry B. Woolf, Senior Ed., Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Co., 1974) p.1082. 7. Henry David Thoreau, Walden, from Edward A. Bryant, Clifton Johnson, ed. (New York, NY: Thomas Crowell & Co., 1910) p.119 Found online at Google books.com http://books.google.com/books?id=yiQ3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119&dq= simplify,+simplify+Walden+Henry+David+Thoreau#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/29/2009). 8. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 3 Articles 1–8, Question 10, Article 1, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009.) See New Advent at http://www .newadvent.org/summa/1003.htm#article1 http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1010 .htm#article1 (accessed 11/29/2009).


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Chapter Twenty-Two

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TEMPERANCE “Moderation in all things, including moderation.” —Anonymous

We get our word “temperance” from the Latin temperare, “to moderate,” the practice of avoiding extremes.1 Temperance is actually a good, strong word. It was one of most highly-praised virtues in ancient Greek mythology, literature and philosophy. • In Greek mythology, Daedalus warns his son Icarus to “fly the middle course” between sea spray and sun’s heat. Icarus flew up to the sun and it melted the wax of his wings.2 • The inscription on The Temple of Delphi which housed the Oracle says, “Nothing in excess.”3 • In The Odyssey, Homer has Odysseus navigate between the shoals of Scylla and Charybdis.4 • Socrates taught that a person must know how to “choose the mean” and avoid the extremes on either side. • Aristotle’s philosophy of “The Golden Mean” in his Ethics taught that the psychology of the soul and its virtues is based on The Golden Mean between the extremes.5 The Hebrew Bible also teaches moderation: “Wisdom teaches temperance.” (Wisdom 8:7) The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides taught, “The right way is the mean.”6 We have seen how the Christian New Testament names 150


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temperance as an expression of the spirit of love (Galatians 5:22) and how in Christian tradition, temperance is one of the Four Cardinal Virtues.7 Furthermore, temperance is lifted up in other world religions, including Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Cross-culturally and universally recognized, temperance safeguards good reason and enables humans to achieve some counterbalance in their lives regarding cravings, appetites, desires, actions, thoughts, and feelings. Positively, temperance encourages self-restraint, self-denial, self-control, and self-discipline. And lest we think that puritanical temperance is the main problem in our society, in actuality the main culprit is intemperance in the form of selfindulgent excesses. Intemperance stunts human potential, both individually and corporately. It is the Trojan horse within the walls of the castle, a force far more dangerous and destructive than the enemy gathered outside the walls. Temper, Temper Balance, Word to live by; Beautiful truth Wise knowledge Unifying the One and the many, in Fairness and equality Justice and harmony Impartial Ideal, Completely concordant; Avoiding Extremes while Seeking a middle path Navigating between The shoals of life In dynamic equilibrium Between excess and deficiency Moving in stillness And silence Toward The Golden Mean

TOLERANCE The English “tolerance” came into our language in the Middle Ages from the Latin tolerare, “to bear or endure;” by the mid 1700’s the term had evolved to describe an attitude free from bigotry or severity.8


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Tolerant people are generally free of prejudice. (If they find prejudice within themselves, they’re critical of it and seek to change it.) They don’t practice racial discrimination. They accept differences in people and cultures. They don’t expect others to think, look, speak or act just like them. They allow tolerance’s companion virtues—charity, justice, prudence, patience, and flexibility—have sway in their thinking and relationships. However, not all tolerance is virtue, nor is all intolerance vice.9 Tolerance exaggerated can become accepting of moral horrors (a vice of excess), while intolerance may sometimes act as a virtue. Aristotle would agree because virtue holds to the golden mean between extremes of deficiency and excess. Tolerating everything regardless of its abhorrence is no virtue (for example, proponents of unrestricted abortion refusing to protect the life of the most innocent members of our society, the unborn). Furthermore, by any standard of rightthinking morality, the Holocaust was an intolerable evil that had to be stopped. The forefathers of the American experiment incorporated theories of religious and political tolerance into the Constitution of the United States. Genuine respect for differences and the practice of tolerance (within moral and legal limits) are fundamental to democratic stability in the United States. Tolerance promotes respect of different cultures, civic responsibility, and beyond our borders, the hope of peaceful world relations. In this country, the meaning of “tolerance” is hotly contested. There are three major viewpoints. (a) One view understands tolerance as permission given by the adherents of the dominant religion in a society (in this case, Christianity) for other religions to exist, even though they are looked upon with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful. (b) Another view understands tolerance as equal validity of all religions and denominations in a society, without any kind of judgment or discrimination among them about which might be better. (c) A third view steers a middle ground between the above, recognizing that since all of us are created in the image of God, all of us should have the right to follow the dictates of our consciences, including which religion to follow—and that no one rightfully has the power to cancel this freedom. However, this third view holds that some ways of thinking may be better than others. One of the big debating points is: Which of the three viewpoints did the Founding Fathers have? One of the best handbooks I’ve read on the subject was written by the late Jesuit scholar, John Courtney Murray, We Hold These Truths. I’ve read it several times; it’s an all-time classic. In the book Murray states, “The American Proposition rests on the more traditional conviction that there are truths, that they can be known, that they must be held, for, if they are not held, assented to, consented to, worked into the texture of institutions, there can be no hope of founding a true city, in which men may dwell in dignity, peace, unity, justice, well-being, freedom.”10


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However, we come out on the question above, the virtue of tolerance gives us the ability to separate people from things. This allows us to truly love and esteem those we don’t agree with (the people), while separating them from what we consider to be the error of their ways, thoughts, or attitudes (the things). Tolerance People before Things Love before Knowledge Freedom before Tolerance Prudence before Intolerance Esteem with Opinion Acceptance with Expectation Forbearance not Bigotry Patience not Prejudice Dignity not Dominance Equality not Discrimination Peace after Justice Unity in Diversity

TRUTHFULNESS “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” —Jesus (John 18:37)

We get our word, “truth” from the Old English treowth (“fidelity”) and treowe (faithful). Our language exhibits a mental connection between truth and faith.11 But what is that connection? In one sense, everyone—whether they consider themselves to be religious or not—has “faith” in a set of propositions believed to be truthful. (I am


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speaking here of truth and faith in a broader sense than any specific religious context.) These belief systems may be shared by a tiny group of people, or they may be widely accepted by ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, geographic, or national groups. Surveying these many groups, we can see that truth (or Truth) has no single definition upon which the majority of people agree. People disagree about what truth (or Truth) is; about whether or not truth exists; about the methods for arriving at whatever truth(s) are to be believed; about how much truth can be known, or if any truth can be known; about who gets to say what “truth” is; about whether there can be any authoritative source of truth; about how to talk about and apply truth if and when it is rightly perceived; about the roles played by innate, acquired or revealed knowledge; and about whether truth is subjective, relative, objective, or absolute. With so many disagreements about what truth is, should we throw up our hands and say that because we can’t agree that truth doesn’t exist, or that its unknowable? Or that it’s vain to try to say anything about it? Not in the biblical worldview! To the ancient Hebrews, truth (Hebrew: emet) was expressed as part of a greater reality incorporating judgment (Hebrew: mishpat), justice (Hebrew: sedaqa), and steadfast love, (Hebrew: hesed). Truth was based in God’s truthfulness—something faithful, firm, solid, true, and authentic.12 In the Christian New Testament, Jesus tells us that the word he brings is truth; that he himself is “the way, the truth, and the life;” that the Holy Spirit will guide us into the truth; and that ultimately, the truth will make us free.13 The biblical idea of truthfulness is echoed in this definition: “Truthfulness is a judgment, proposition, or idea that is truthful because it is in accord with reality and is free from error, distortion, falsity, misrepresentation, and lies.”14 Defining truthfulness is one thing. Asking how we know that we have judged to be true is quite another. To define the virtue of truthfulness involves more than simply turning to the dictionary. Because it involves judgment, we must (to at least some extent) first possess it and know that we possess it; we must be able to distinguish truth from error. We cannot define what we cannot distinguish; therefore, careful inquiry and thinking is necessary. This act of discerning truth and error is, in the final analysis, intuitional and perceptual. It could be likened to getting at the meaning of a poem. We try our best, using all the literary, experiential and imaginative tools at our disposal, to uncover the meaning of the poem. We hope, perhaps, to discover the intended meaning of the author. But how can we ever know for certain what the poet actually intended? Some subjectivity is always in play. With respect to applying our intellects to discern truthfulness, we must not allow irrelevant considerations to affect our perception. We should avoid any


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rushes to judgment and, as much as possible, to hold off bias, prejudice, and an overanxious will to believe something is truthful before we know it is true. Aristotle’s definition of the virtue of truthfulness was this: “If a man says of what is that it is, or if he says of what is not that it is not, then he speaks the truth.”15 Aquinas believed that truthfulness, as a virtue, was “in conformity with truth in the Divine Mind of God.”16 These men believed that truth was knowable, at least to a certain extent. But simply apprehending truthfulness intellectually is not enough; it must become part of our character. Whatever good, just, and true judgments we make ought to result in good consequences and greater justice. Truthfulness demands from us honesty, honorableness, and accuracy in our words and actions. We should not tell a lie even to defend ourselves. We should not listen to gossip, and we should always be on the watch for bias and prejudice in ourselves. Truthful people are sincere; to the best of their knowledge, they are in agreement with reality. They are truthful in word and deed. As the widelyquoted and variously-rendered maxim goes: “Plant an act, reap a habit; plant a habit, reap a virtue; plant a virtue, reap a character; plant a character; reap a destiny.”17 How true! Questions For Superman What is truth? Where is justice? Is there still An American way? All the statistics stacked, All the laws enacted, Neither truth Nor justice sway. Is the American way now foggy, Do we need Diogenes’ light? Have you, yourself become groggy, Exposed to dread Kryptonite? Is your “S” covered over with tie, Starched shirt, silken suit? No longer rescuing people in sky, Did money become your pursuit? Are you now just Mr. Clark Kent; That simple, mild-mannered man? Afraid that you might be sent, Back to Krypton; an illegal alien?


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I have some other suggestions, Concerning your “Superego” and pride But, forget all my previous questions, Is God still on our side?

NOTES 1. “Temperance” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=temperance&searchmode=none (accessed 10/29/2009). 2. Daedulus & Icarus, from Eric Kimmel, Pep Montserrat, ed., The Mcelderry Book of Greek Myths, (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2008) p. 68. 3. The Oracle at Delphi, from Walter Burket, John Raffan, ed., Greek Religion, (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell Publications, 1987) p.148. 4. Homer, The Odyssey/Scylla and Charybdis, BK XII, from Ian Johnston, ed., (Arlington, VA: Richer Resources Publications, 2006) p.224 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=3Gj9ElB0UJYC&pg=PA 224&dq=the+odyssey+homer+scylla+and+charybdis#v=onepage&q=&f=false (accessed 10/29/2009). 5. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II, ch. 6, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/29/2009). 6. Moses Maimonides, Guide For the Perplexed, from Isadore Twersky, A Maimonides Reader, (West Orange, NJ: Behrman House Publishing, 1972) p.52. 7. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 61, Articles 1–5,Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO: Advent International, 2009). See also the New Advent website at http://www .newadvent.org/summa/2061.htm#article1 (accessed 10/29/2009). 8. “Tolerance” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=tolerance&searchmode=none (accessed 10/31/2009). 9. Aristotle, Nicomachaen Ethics, Book II, ch. 6, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/ nicomachaen.mb.txt (accessed 10/31/2009). 10. John Courtney Murray, from Walter Burghardt, ed., We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005) Preface XIII http://books.google.com/books?id=oxscyU4R4REC&pg= PR7&dq=John+Courtney+Murray+We+Hold+These+Truths+page+13&lr=#v=one page&q=John%20Courtney%20Murray%20We%20Hold%20These%20Truths%20 page%2013&f=false (accessed 10/31/2009). 11. “Truth,” Douglas Harper, ed., Online Etymology Dictionary, found at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=truth&searchmode=none (accessed


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10/31/2009). 12. “Truth,” From Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmeyer, S.J., Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., ed., Jerome Biblical Comm., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968) Sects. 3:63; 6:20–24; 11:29; 16:14,54; 31:39; 57:18–22; 63:11: pp. 60, 106–107, 222, 269, 279, 353–355,416, 518. 13. John 5:24; 14:6; 16:1–13; 8:32, New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Board of Trustees/ National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference, Administrative and Editorial Committee/ Board (New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1970). 14. “Truth,” Peter Mark Roget, from Christopher Orlando, Sylvester Mawson, ed., Roget’s Thesaurus of the English Language in Dictionary Form, (Garden City, NY: Garden City Publications, 1940) p.522. 15. Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book IV, From Daniel C. Stevenson, ed., transl. W. D. Ross, Internet Classics Archives (Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 1994). See the Internet Classics Website at http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.mb.txt (accessed 10/31/2009). See also, Sir Alexander Grant, from Bernard Bosenquet, ed., The Ethics of Aristotle, (London, Eng.: Longman’s Green & Co. Publishing, 1874) p.200 Found online at Googlebooks.com http://books.google.com/books?id=JYyfcMlz4_cC &pg=PA200&dq=the+ethics+of+aristotle+if+a+man+speaks+of+what+is+that+it+is+ then+he+speaks+the+truth#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 16. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 16, Articles 1–8, Question 109, Articles 1–4, Found on the New Advent CD-ROM by Kevin Knight, New Advent Encyclopedia, (Denver, CO :Advent International, 2009). See New Advent at http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1016.htm#article1 http://www.newadvent.org/ summa/3109.htm#article1 (accessed 10/31/2009). 17. “Character,” from Richard McBrien ed., Catholicism, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994) p. 926.


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Index

abortion, 152 Abraham, 88–89 acceptance, 28–31, 128–29 adversity, 21–31, 40–42, 128–29, 141–42 agape/love, 113–15 Alcoholics Anonymous creed, 28–31 Aldonza, 99–101 Ambrose, 1 Analects of Confucius. See Confucius angels, 88–89 anger, 65–67, 73–75, 128–29, 133–36 animation, 58–59 Anselm, ix apathy, 56–58 Aristotle: on virtue, 1–3; on the golden mean, 1, 151–53; on essence, 7–9; on souls, 7–8; on desire, 7–9; on goodness, 18–19; on happiness, 20–21; on imitation, 56–58; on friendship, 67–70; on gentleness, 73–75; on imagination, 101–3; on justice, 107–8; on obedience, 123– 25; on pride, 133–36; on prudence/ wisdom, 136–38; on truthfulness, 153–56 artistry, 43–45 Aquinas, Thomas: on virtue, 1–3; on essence, 7–9; on happiness,

20–21; on confidence, 35–37; on curiosity, 45–47; on faith, 61–64; on friendliness, 67–70; on gentleness, 73–75; on gratitude, 75–77; on holiness, 79–81; on hospitality, 88–89; on love, 113–15; on pride, 133–36; on simplicity, on truthfulness, 153–56 asceticism, 51–53 Augustine, 1–3, 45–47, 113–15, 128–29 authority, 123–25, 133–36, 153–56 awe, 45–47 Bacon, Sir Francis, 11–12, 21–23 behavior, 42–43, 51–53, 73–75, 81–83, 99–101, 103–5, 130–31 being, 7–9 bias, 125–26, 153–56 bigotry, 151–53 blessedness/bliss, 7–9, 18–19, 20–21, 75–77, 133–36, 146–48 bravery. See courage Buddhism, 67–70, 150–51 Calamity, 21–23 Campbell, Joseph, 81–83 Cardinal Virtues, 1–3, 40–43, 107–8, 136–38, 150–51 cavalier, 42–43 159


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centering, 144–46 ceremonial law, 107–8 Cervantes, Miguel de, 79–81, 99–101 chance, 23–25 change/changing, 7–9, 18–19, 28–31, 43–45, 64–65, 99–101, 128–29, 151–53 character, 1–3, 14–16, 18–19, 40–42, 51–53, 73–75, 79–85, 103–5, 115– 17, 141–42, 153–56 cheval/chivalry, 42–43 choice, 14–16 chokmah. See prudence/wisdom Churchill, Winston, 40–42, 132–33 Cicero, 21–23, 75–77, 141–42 circles, 103–5 coincidence, 23–25, 25–26 comedy. See humor community, 75–77 compassion, 33–35, 56–58, 73–75, 79–81, 103–5, 119–21 competition, 133–36 confidence, 35–37, 61–64, 85–88, 141–42 Confucius, 61–64 conscience, 37–40, 83–85, 113–17, 136–38, 141–42, 151–53 consciousness, 37–40, 56–58 Constitution, 151–53 contemplation, 45–47, 75–77, 125–26, 144–48 courage, 1–3, 14–16, 21–23, 28–31, 35–37, 40–43, 53–54, 73–75, 81–88, 103–8, 113–15, 128–46 court, 42–43 courtesy, 42–43, 73–75 courtly love/ courtly behavior. See Courtesy cowardice, 40–42, 53–54 Cowper, William, 58–59 creation, 43–45, 72–73, 107–8 creativety, 43–45, 92–95 cura/ care, 45–47 curiosity, 45–47, 89–92


Daedalus, 150 Dalai Lama, 33–35 death, 114–15 deception, 133–36 De Sales, Francis, 73–75 decisions, 53–54, 136–38 desire, 7–9, 20–21, 51–53, 89–92, 103–5, 150–51 despair, 85–88 destiny, 23–25, 153–56 discernment. See decisions disciple. See discipline discipline, 51–53, 132–33 discourtesy. See courtesy discrepancy, 92–95 discretion, 35–37, 53–54, 61–64, 99–101, 123–25, 125–26, 136–38, 144–46 disgrace, 42–43 dishonesty. See honesty disobedience. See obedience distortion, 153–56 diversity, 151–53 divine mind/ divine will, 18–19, 23–26, 28–31, 123–25, 153–56 divinization, 79–81 docility. See gentleness dogs, 69–70 Don Quixote, 81–83, 99–101 Dulcinea, 99–101 Dunne, Finley Peter, 141–42 Ecclesiates, 43–45, 81–83, 144–46 Edison, Thomas, 132–33 Einstein, Albert, 45–47 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 85 emet/truth, 153 emotions, 56–58, 73–75, 130–31 empathy, 33–35, 56–58 emunahfFaith, 61 enthusiasm, 58–59 epikeia/spirit of the law, 119–21 epithumia/love, 113–15 equity, 107–8 eros/love, 113–15

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error, 153–56 essence, 7–9, 18–19, 79–81, 113–15 Ethics of Aristotle. See Aristotle etiquette, 42–43 eucharist, 75–77 eudaimonia/happiness, 20 existence, 7–9, 18–19 excellence, 1–3, 133–36 excess, 150–51 excitement, 58–59 expectation, 85–88 experiences, 136–38 exploration, 45–47 failure, 21–23, 40–42, 132–33 faith/faithfulness, ix, 1–3, 28–31, 35–37, 61–64, 85–88, 103–5, 113–17, 123– 31, 144–46, 153–56 falsity, 153–56 family, 130–33 fate, 21–25 favor, 61–70 fealty, 115 fear, 40–42 feelings. See emotions fidelity, 61–64, 115–17, 153–56 flexibility, 64–65, 123–25, 132–33, 151–53 foreknowledge, 23–26 foresight, 25–26, 136–38 forgiveness, 28–31, 65–67, 117–21 fortitude. See courage fortune, 21–26, 141–42 Franklin, Benjamin, 81–83 freedom, 14–16, 72–73, 151–56 freedom of religion, 151–53 free-will, 14–16, 23–26, 37–40, 51–53, 72–73, 79–85, 107–8, 113–15, 123–25 friendliness/friends, 67–70, 88–89 fruit of the spirit, 2–3, 20–21, 61–64, 73–75, 92–95, 103–5, 110–15, 128– 29, 150–51 future, 25–26, 85–88, 99–101, 128–29


161

Gandhi, Mohandes, 65–67, 88–89 generosity/generous, 72–73, 88–89, 103–5 gentleness, 73–75, 113–15 golden mean of Aristotle, 1–3, 40–42, 53–54, 123–25, 150–51 golden rule, 42–43 the good life, 7–9, 18–19, 43–47, 67–70, 85–88 goodness, 18–19; and virtue, 1–3; and essence, 7–9; and freedom, 14–16; and happiness, 20–21; and adversity, 21–23; and fortune, 23–25; and providence, 25–26; and Vice, 133–36; Christian understanding of, 18–19 good sense, 53–54 grace, 7–16, 25–26, 42–45, 61–64, 75–81, 89–92, 99–103, 110–15, 119–21, 125–29, 136–38 gratitude, 75–77 greed, 72–73 St. Gregory, 1–3, 89–92 growth, 43–45, 64–65, 79–81 guidance, 123–25 guilt, 37–40 Habakkuk, 61–64 Hackett, Buddy, 67 Haiti, 75–77 happiness, 20–21, 25–26, 65–67, 72–77 harmony, 130–31 hearing, 123–25 heart, 40–42, 72–77, 81–83, 92–95, 99–105, 110–17, 123–26, 132–33 hesed/steadfast love, 110–12, 130–31, 153–56 Hickey, Edward, 83–85, 119–21 Hickey, Mary, 37, 110–12 Hickey, Terri, 110–12 Hinduism, 150–51 holiness, 79–81, 130–31 Holocaust, 152 Holy Grail King, 33–35, 81–83

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Holy Spirit, 58–59, 79–81, 103–5, 110– 12, 119–21, 144–46, 153–56 Homer, 150–51 honesty, 42–43, 81–85, 92–95, 103–5, 125–26, 136–42, 153–56 honor, 42–43, 78–92, 141–42, 153–56 hope, 1–3, 28–37, 58–64, 85–101, 113–15, 125–33 hospital, 88–89 hospitality, 42–43, 83–89 Hubbard, Elbert, 115–17 Human Virtues, 1–3 humanity. See human nature human nature, 14–16, 110–12, 119–25, 141–42 humbleness, 89–92, 128–36, 146–48 humility, 28–37, 42–43, 61–64, 73–85, 89–92, 99–105, 113–15, 123–38, 144–46 humor, 11–12, 61–64, 92–95, 119–21 humus, 89–92 Icarus, 150 idea/ideal, 7–8, 43–45, 99–101, 115–17, 125–26, 141–42 idealism, 99–101 identity, 103–5 Ignatius of Loyola, 37 ignorance, 146 illusion, 28–31 images/imagery, 101–3 imagination, 43–45, 92–103 imitation, 56–58 indebtedness, 75–77 inflexibility, 64–65 Information Age, 148 Infused Virtue, 79–88 ingratitude, 75–77 inner being, 7–9, 37–40, 53–58, 72–81, 107–8, 115–17, 125–31 inquisitiveness, 45–47 inspiration, 43–45, 58–59 integrity, 79–85, 103–5, 141–42 intellect, 61–64


intolerance, 151–53 investigation, 45–47 irony, 92–95 Isaiah, 89–92 Islam, 1–3, 150–51 “isness,” 7–9 Jesus Christ, 61–67, 73–77, 89–92, 99–101, 107–8, 113–21, 128–36, 141–42, 153–56 Job, 115–17, 128–29, 132–33 Jordan, Michael, 132–33 joy, 20–21, 72–77, 92–95, 103–5, 113–15 Judaism, 1–3, 67–70 judgement, 53–54, 136–38 justice, 1–3, 14–16, 40–43, 56–70, 75–77, 81–101, 107–8, 113–38, 144–46, 151–56 Kadesh-Barnea, 79 kadosh, 79–81 Kennedy, Robert F., 101–3 kin/kinship, 110–12 kind/kindness, 42–43, 73–75, 88–89, 103–5, 110–15, 119–21 knowing/knowledge, 11–12, 37–40, 45–47, 64–65, 125–26, 146–48, 153–56 Lady Justice, 107–8, 119–21 Lady Wisdom, 146–48 Laotse, 64–65, 146–48 laughter, 92–95 Lewis, C.S., 67–70, 133–36 liberality, 72–73 lies/lying, 153–56 Lion of Judah, 40–42 lion symbol, 41–42 listening, 73–75, 123, 144–46 love, 1–3, 7–9, 11–19, 28–31, 37–47, 56–95, 99–156 loving-kindness, 110–15, 128–29

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loyalty, 61–70, 81–83, 103–5, 115–17, 123–25, 141–42 Lucifer, 133–36 luck, 23–26 makrothumia, 128–29 manners, 42–43, 73–75 Mark/St. Mark’s Square, 40–42 marriage, 103–5, 113–15, 132–33, 141–42 matter, 7–8 mediocrity, 133 meekness, 73–75, 89–92 memory, 37–40, 136–38 mercy, 119–21, 128–29 Mere Christianity, 133–36 Merton, Thomas, 33–35 mezimah, 53–54 Michael’s question, xi mishpat, 153–56 Middle Path, 1–3, 40–42 misery, 21–23 misfortune, 21–25 misrepresentation, 153–56 moderation, 150–51 modesty, 89–92 Moral Law, 37–40, 103–8 Moral Virtue, 1–3, 70–75, 79–81 Moses, 61–64, 128–29 Moses Maimonides, 150–51 mother of all virtue, 75–77 Motherly Figure of Charity, 40–42 motivation, 58–59 Murray, John Courtney, S.J., 151–53 mutuality, 67–70, 113–15 Natural Law, 37–40 Natural Virtue, 1–3 newness, 43–45 New Testament References: Gal 5:22, 3, 20–21, 28–31, 61–64, 73–75, 92–95, 103–5, 110–12, 113–15, 128–29, 150–51; 1 Cor 13:13, 1–3, 85–88; 1Jn 4:8, 7–9; Lk 1:35, 11–12;


163

Lk 6:45, 18–19; Mt 5:3–10; Lk 6:22, 20–21; Rm 8:28, 25–26; Mk 15:1–47; Mk 14:3–9, 33–35; Mt 22:37–39, 33–35, 67–70; Mk 12:31, 33–35; Rev 5:5, 40–42; Lk 6:31, Mt 7:12, 42–43; 1 Cor 15:17, Jms 2:26, 61–64; Mt 6:12, 65–67; Jn 15:14–15, 67–70; Mt 6:21, 2;Cor 9:7, 72–73; Mt 11:29, 73–75; Eph 2:8–9, Lk 7:36–50, Col 2:6–7, 1 Ptr 1:18, 75–77; Jn 17: 11, 16, 1 Cor 6:19–20, 79–81; Lk 16:10, 83–85; Heb 13:2, 88–89; Mt 19:13–15, Mk 10:13–16, Lk 18:15–17, 89–92; Jms 4:6, 1 Ptr 5:6, Phil 2:3–11, 89–92; Mt 6:33, 107–8; Rom 9:15, Rom 7:6, 119–21; Jms 2:20, 123–25; 1 Cor 13:4, 128– 29; Jn 14:27, 130–31; Jms 5:10, Heb 12:1, Lk 11:1–13, Eph 6:18, Rom 12:12, 132–33; Lk 16:10, 141–42; Mt 15:4, 146–48; Jn 18:37, Jn 5:24, 14:6, 16:1–13, 8:32, 153–56 Niebuhr, Rienhold, 28–31 obedience, 28–31, 61–64, 75–77, 115– 17, 123–25 observation skills, 136–38 obstacles, 132–33 Odysseus/Odyssey of Homer, 150 Old Testament References: PS 71;19, 89:9, 113:5; Mic 7:18–19, IX-XI; Wis 8:7, 1–3; Gen 1:26–27, 37–40; Gen ch.1–3 43–45, 72–73; Eccl ch.1, 43–45; Gen ch.3, 45–47; Prv 2:11, 53–54; Hbk 2:4, 61–64; Ex ch.17, Ps 103:12, Is 1:18, Is 43:25–26, 65–67; Sir 4:7, 67–70; Lv10:3, Dt 26:5, Ezra 22:26; 39:7, Neh 11:1, Is 5:16; 6:3; 10:17; 40:25; 56:7; 57:15, 79–81; Dt 5:19–2, 81–83; Eccl 3:7, 81–83; Ex 20:12, 83–85; Ps 27:13, 85–88; Gen 18:1–33, 88–89; Pvb 18:12, 89–92; Is 57:15, 89–92; Sngs ch.1–8, 113–15; Ps 106, 107, 118, 136,

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Index

138, 119–21; Ps 145:8, 119–21; Ex 34:6–7, 128–29; Jb 42:7–17, 128–29; Ps 85:10, 130–31; Is 9:6, 130–31; Pvbs 13:16, 136–38; pvbs 10:19, 144–46; pvbs 17:28, 144–46; Eccl 3:7, 144–46; Ps 46:11, 144–46; Pvbs 9:1–5, 146–48; Wis 8:7, 150–51 olympic symbol, 103–5 omnipotence of God, 14–16, 23–25, 25–26 openness, 64–65, 99–101, 125–26 Oppenheim, James, 20–21 order, 67–70, 130–31 originality, 43–45 Ovid, 58–59 Parzifal, 81–83 passion, 33–35, 43–45, 56–59, 73–75 patience, 28–31, 51–53, 73–75, 85–88, 99–105, 113–15, 128–46, 151–53 Paul the Apostle, 3, 61–64, 103–5, 119–29 peace/peacefulness, 79–81, 103–5, 113–15, 130–31, 144–46 perfection, 1–3, 18–19, 20–21, 99–101 perseverence, 51–53, 61–64, 128–29, 132–33 persistence. See perseverence Phaedo, 115–17 phantasma, 101–3 phileo/love, 113–15 Philo, 1–3 philosophy, ix-xi phronesis/practical wisdom, 28–31, 35–37, 136–38 Plato, 1–3, 7–8, 101–3, 115–17 pleasure, 20–21 Plutarch, 21–23 poetry, x politeness, 42–43, 73–75, 110–12 possessions, 72–73 potential, 11–12, 18–19, 21–23 power, 11–12, 113–15 powerlessness, 11–12


practice, 51–53, 61–67, 79–81, 144–46 prayer, 21–23, 53–54, 75–77, 132–33, 136–38, 144–46 predestination, 23–25 prejudice, 107–8, 125–26, 151–56 presence, 20–21 presumption, 85–88 pride, 73–75, 89–92, 123–25, 132–36, 141–42 Prince of Peace, 130–31 problem solving, 43–45 prosperity, 21–23 Proverbs, 53–54, 136–38, 144–46 providence, 14–16, 23–26, 35–37, 136–38 prudence/wisdom, ix-xi, 1–3, 14–16, 28–47, 53–65, 92–108, 113–17, 123–53 Psalms, 110–12, 119–21 Purity, 79–81, 146–48 Quakers, 144–46 questions/questioning, 45–47 racial discrimination, 151–53 reality, 100–101, 121–26, 130–31, 133–36, 153–56 reason, 125–26, 150–51 recklessness, 40–42, 53–54 reconciliation, 65–67 relationships, 67–70, 103–17, 130–33 reliability, 35–37, 61–64, 103–5, 141–42 respect, 83–85 resurrection, 92–95, 113–15 right/righteousness, 107–8, 119–26 rigidity, 64–65 risk, 40–45 Rozimonte, 99–101 Ruben, Paul, 40–42 rudder virtue. See prudence sacred places, 79–81 sagacity. See prudence

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Index

Sancho Panza, 99–101 sanctification, 79–81 Screwtape Letters, 133–36 Scylla and Charybdis, 150 sea, as a metaphor, 61–64 security, 141–42 sedaqua/justice, 102–8, 130–31, 153–56 self-actualization, 7–9, 14–16, 37–40 self-confidence, 35–37 self-consciousness, 37–40 self-control, 73–75, 103–5, 113–15, 150–51 self-discipline, 51–53, 123–25, 150–51 self-esteem, 83–92 self-importance/self-exaltation, 133–36 self-indulgence, 150–51 self-realization, 89–92 self-reflection, 45–47 self-sacrifice, 72–73, 150–51 Serenity Prayer, 28–31 Sermon on the Mount, 20–21 servility, 123–25 Seven Deadly Sins, 133–36 Shakespeare, William, 7–9, 21, 25, 35–40, 53, 75–77, 103–5, 119, 141–42 shalom, 79–81, 130–31 sharing, 11–12, 72–73 Sheen, Fulton J., 133–36, 144–46 Signals Of Transcendance, 11–12, 92–95 silence, 81–83, 144–46 simpleton, 146–48 simplicity, 89–92, 146–48 sin, 1–3, 133–36. See also vice Socrates, 45–47, 115–17, 150–51 Song of Songs, 113–15 sophia. See prudence/wisdom soul, 7–9, 37–40, 45–47, 150–51 spirituality, 58–59, 37–40, 45–47, 150–51 steadfastness, 85–88, 128–29, 132–33 Stoics, 1–3


165

Strauss, Robert, 132–33 strength, 40–42, 51–53, 65–67, 73–75, 128–29 suffering, 18–23, 28–35, 40–45, 88–89, 128–33 Summa Theologica. See Aquinas, Thomas supernatural existential, 79–81 Supernatural Virtues, 1–3, 61–64, 85–88, 113–15 superstition, 23–25 survival, 75–77 sympathy, 56–58 syneidesis, 37–40 tact, 73–75 talmud, 110, 144–46 Taoism, 64–65, 89–92, 150–51 Teilhard de Chardin, 37–40 temerity, 40–42 temperance, 1–3, 14–16, 21–23, 40–43, 51–53, 61–64, 73–83, 89–92, 103–8, 128–38, 150–51 temple, 144–46 Temple of Delphi, 150 thankfulness, 75–77 thanksgiving, 75–77 Theological Virtues, 1–3, 61–64, 85–88, 113–15 theosis, 79–81 Thoreau, Henry David, 146–48 time, 7–9 timidity, 40–42 tolerance, 28–31, 88–89, 144–46, 151–53 tranquility, 130–31 transcendence, 11–12, 92–95, 125–26 trees as a metaphor, 64–65 Triumph of Divine Love, 40–42 true self, 37–40, 103–5 trust, 28–31, 35–37, 61–64, 67–70, 81–85, 125–29, 141–42 truth/truthfulness, 61–64, 73–75, 81–83, 92–105, 113–17, 125–29, 151–56

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166

unconsciousness, 37–40, 56–58 unlearning, 125–26 values, 1–3 vice, 1–3, 133–36 Vice of Deficiency and Excess, 1–3, 40–42, 53–54, 85–88, 92–95, 123– 25, 132–36 Virtue, 1–28, 133–36 vulnerability, 125–26 water as a metaphor, 89–92 We Hold These Truths, 151–53 well-being, 79–81


Index

wheels of fortune & providence, 23–25 wholeness, 79–81, 103–5, 130–31 Wisdom Books of the bible, 1–3 wit, 11–12 wealth, 20–21 wonder, 45–47 works, 61–64, 123–25 Works of Mercy, 119–21 worldly Success, 20–21 xin/faith, 61–64 zeal/zealousness, 58–59

5/31/11 7:14 AM

About the Author

Michael Hickey is a writer and poet who lives in Naples, Florida in the fall and winter and in Swampscott, Massachusetts in the spring and summer. He is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Master Of Divinity Studies graduate of Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, since 2008 part of Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Following careers as a corporate executive and executive director of two charitable non-profit organizations focused on third world and U.S. poverty, he eventually began his own marketing business. He retired as a successful entrepreneur in his late fifties to become a full-time writer and poet. His first book, Get Wisdom, a non-fiction work, was published in early 2006 by the Xlibris Division of Random House Publishing. He currently writes a weekly prose and poetry column called “Words of Wisdom” for The Naples Daily News and teaches courses on religion, philosophy and poetry at Hodges University’s Center for Life Long Learning and Florida Gulf Coast University’s Renaissance Academy. He is married to Theresa, a published poet, and in their forty-five years together they have raised four happy and “well adjusted” children into adulthood. Get Goodness is the title of his current book. In it, he focuses on virtue as the power to do good.

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5/31/11 7:14 AM

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