(ThyBlackMan.com) Throughout the week of the Democratic National Convention, the word “empathy” came up again and again. Empathy is one of seven virtues I wrote about in a book for my children. No one spoke of virtue, though. It seems the very idea of virtue is quaint, if not archaic.
In today’s popular culture, winning has replaced virtue at the zenith of human endeavors. Being a “winner” has replaced being virtuous as our most admirable quality or trait. We have come to believe that winning and virtuousness are synonymous, replacing the ethos of doing everything to win, with doing anything to win. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” and “nice guys finish last.”
When did we make the switch? Were previous generations more virtuous? Probably not. They at least, however, gave lip service to the notion that “virtue was its own reward.” That acting with honor, whether in victory or defeat, was one of the highest manifestations of character. But those are said to be simpler times and life has grown more complex. How you play the game is no longer important, it’s all about whether you win or lose.
The game of life
The game of life is not as complex as we make it out to be and growing older makes it much clearer. Simply stated, the goal is to live a good and decent life and thereby achieve happiness. As we simplify our lives, we find more meaning and reduce anxieties. With the passage of time we learn the ebb and flow of life’s rhythms, allowing us to better handle the lean and bountiful times.
We learn to navigate by life’s pillars or cardinal points: Knowledge, Courage, Strength and Faith. None of these is more important than the others, just as North is not more important than East. Depending on where you are, and where you want to go, these points are there to guide you.
What then is a (the) good life… winning? Is it one based on accumulation of material possessions? This would necessarily mean those with the most toys win. But misery in the midst of luxury is a cliché. While you may be able to get “a new lease on life”, or enjoy “stolen moments”, happiness has shown it cannot become a permanent possession through its purchase or theft. It must be earned. A virtuous life is the service rendered, and happiness is its compensation.
The seven deadly sins are all around us: greed, lust, sloth, envy, pride, gluttony and wrath. Supposedly disdained or lamented but too often actually exalted. Remember that line from the movie “Wall Street”, based on a real lecture delivered by a Wall Street banker at a leading business school, “Greed is good.”
The good life
Virtues are not just their opposites, but are affirming principles in their own right. They are the values spoken by our inner voice appealing to our higher consciousness. Practicing virtues like empathy in our daily interaction with others, we can lead a good and decent life and achieve happiness; resulting in the reflected smile in the mirror, the shoulder not having to be looked over. Then we come to know that as God is praised for His go(o)dness, the good life is God’s life.
God here is not referred to in the religious sense, but a spiritual one. The chosen path to those values universally extolled as good, being not as important as the journey itself. The thanksgiving for life, more important than the form in which it is expressed.
To confuse the path with the journey, or the mere expression with true thanksgiving is a hindrance. Witness Jerusalem. If there ever were a place where there should be peace and harmony on earth it should be that ancient holiest of cities, full of professed believers of many faiths. And yet, it is not so.
Virtue is not the province of any particular religious expression. God is larger than the confines of any church, temple, mosque or synagogue. Follow whatever path suits you, whatever expression stirs your soul. Always remember, however, to distinguish “a” truth from “the” truth. Life’s journey not being over, the Ultimate Truth lies ahead awaiting discovery.
Staff Writer; Harry Sewell