He went on to become a self loving, lust driven, fame chasing young man who enjoyed "smarting out" with philosophical elites, until one day he realized he was chasing the same earthly pleasures as a beggar on the street, except he could not get them as easily as they could.
He looked into the vastness of human soul and found not only treachery and uncontrollability, but its deep rooted connection with God Almighty and the Grace that could only be accepted through humility.
Augustine did not live a tranquil, easy life after this "conversion". When he wrote his famous spiritual memoir Confession, he was not reminiscing a conquered experience but continuously reassessing that experience as he faced hard times in life.
In the occasion we do invoke the value aspect of the word, it is the virtue of tenacity, toughness, creativity--traits we need to achieve our personal goals--more than that of selflessness, generosity, self-sacrifice that we like to pick up on. We are taught to look highly at ourselves, then focus on improving our given talents to be the "best you can be" in our field of specialty in this utilitarian minded society anyway.
No surprise then many admire Steve Jobs for his brilliant product ideas and insistence on perfection but ignore his demeaning dealing with people and fact fabricating "reality distortion field" capability.
Rather than character, the favored word and top virtue of the day seems to be authenticity. To be really appealing to the mass today, one has to be genuine and relatable, open and honest about their personal life, and consistent with the message they send out. Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift are two good examples.
This is not a bad thing, really: Great character cannot exist in vacuum, but is relational, validated through interactions with others. Transparency and authenticity, with the aid of godspeed Internet and wild fire social media today, help us find out who's got the juice and who's not, sooner rather than later.
That's why I admire people who say "My lifetime goal is to have those who know me best respect me most." Familiarity breeds contempt, if it breeds respect instead, something remarkable is shining through that person, warts and all notwithstanding, consistently and persistently.
I know this might sound simplistic, but here's my end thought: If character is an assembly of virtues, and there is no greater virtue than love... or, put another way: if all virtues are derivatives of love, under the supervision of love, sustained by love, then the road to character ought to be... "keep love alive"!
God help us do that!
******************************
“Souls are like athletes that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers.” -- Thomas Merton
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
He looked into the vastness of human soul and found not only treachery and uncontrollability, but its deep rooted connection with God Almighty and the Grace that could only be accepted through humility.
Augustine did not live a tranquil, easy life after this "conversion". When he wrote his famous spiritual memoir Confession, he was not reminiscing a conquered experience but continuously reassessing that experience as he faced hard times in life.
He reminded believers that the center of their lives is not in themselves, and the pleasures of this world are most delicious only when savored in the larger context of God's transcendent love.
******************************
These are stories of three of the several people David Brooks, a New York Times columnist and writer, presents in his book "The Road to Character" that I read recently.
Brooks said he got the idea of writing the book after hearing the rebroadcast of an old-time radio program celebrating the end of World War II, where celebrities of the day commented the victory with subdued, humble tone, in great contrast to the flashy, self-ingratiating personalities that he encounters daily in our modern culture.
So he went on to study the lives and inner worlds of some historical great men and women, to know "how some people have cultivated strong character. It's about one mindset that people through the centuries have adopted to put iron in their core and to cultivate a wise heart. I wrote it to save my soul."
Here are my take:
Looking up the dictionary, the word "character" can mean value-neutral "features and traits," or virtue-ful "moral or ethical quality" of a person. My guess is we refer more to the former (e.g. "He's quite a character") than the latter (e.g. "He is a man of great character") nowadays. Our battered (and pampered) self would rather enjoy the idiosyncrasies of fun personalities than be saddled with solemn moralistic reminders on any given day.
******************************
These are stories of three of the several people David Brooks, a New York Times columnist and writer, presents in his book "The Road to Character" that I read recently.
Brooks said he got the idea of writing the book after hearing the rebroadcast of an old-time radio program celebrating the end of World War II, where celebrities of the day commented the victory with subdued, humble tone, in great contrast to the flashy, self-ingratiating personalities that he encounters daily in our modern culture.
So he went on to study the lives and inner worlds of some historical great men and women, to know "how some people have cultivated strong character. It's about one mindset that people through the centuries have adopted to put iron in their core and to cultivate a wise heart. I wrote it to save my soul."
Here are my take:
Looking up the dictionary, the word "character" can mean value-neutral "features and traits," or virtue-ful "moral or ethical quality" of a person. My guess is we refer more to the former (e.g. "He's quite a character") than the latter (e.g. "He is a man of great character") nowadays. Our battered (and pampered) self would rather enjoy the idiosyncrasies of fun personalities than be saddled with solemn moralistic reminders on any given day.
In the occasion we do invoke the value aspect of the word, it is the virtue of tenacity, toughness, creativity--traits we need to achieve our personal goals--more than that of selflessness, generosity, self-sacrifice that we like to pick up on. We are taught to look highly at ourselves, then focus on improving our given talents to be the "best you can be" in our field of specialty in this utilitarian minded society anyway.
No surprise then many admire Steve Jobs for his brilliant product ideas and insistence on perfection but ignore his demeaning dealing with people and fact fabricating "reality distortion field" capability.
Rather than character, the favored word and top virtue of the day seems to be authenticity. To be really appealing to the mass today, one has to be genuine and relatable, open and honest about their personal life, and consistent with the message they send out. Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Swift are two good examples.
This is not a bad thing, really: Great character cannot exist in vacuum, but is relational, validated through interactions with others. Transparency and authenticity, with the aid of godspeed Internet and wild fire social media today, help us find out who's got the juice and who's not, sooner rather than later.
That's why I admire people who say "My lifetime goal is to have those who know me best respect me most." Familiarity breeds contempt, if it breeds respect instead, something remarkable is shining through that person, warts and all notwithstanding, consistently and persistently.
I know this might sound simplistic, but here's my end thought: If character is an assembly of virtues, and there is no greater virtue than love... or, put another way: if all virtues are derivatives of love, under the supervision of love, sustained by love, then the road to character ought to be... "keep love alive"!
God help us do that!
******************************
“Souls are like athletes that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers.” -- Thomas Merton
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
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