Tony At 10: CHARACTER; BLOG # 2163; FRI NOV 16, 2018

THE MESSAGE:

What is character? From where does it originate? We are not born with character; rather, it must be developed through the manner in which we deal with difficult challenges. It flies in the face of reputation and makes us the individual who can survive and thrive in a complex world!

British poet William Ernest Henley describes how a man should respond to challenges in his poem “Invictus” which is Latin for “unconquerable.”

Every man should have an unconquerable spirit. When life kicks you in the ass get back up and kick life in the ass. At 12 years of age he was stricken with tuberculosis of the bone. He had to have his leg amputated to the knee and doctors told him he would have to have the other one amputated if he were to survive. He kicked them in the ass and ended up keeping it. Henley led an active life with one leg. He had a successful career as a poet and literary critic. Henley was truly not filled with self pity. WOE WAS NOT HE! He was the Master of his fate and Captain of his soul!

INVICTUS

Henley wanted to emphasize that one should never lose hope no matter the circumstance. He concentrated on how you control your fate and decide your future.

THE BLOG:

DAVID BROOKS

David Brooks in his book titled 'The Road to Character' stresses a different message, he maintains that we do not create our lives; rather, we are confronted by life. The important answers are not found inside, they are found outside our beings. In searching for the answers he asks, what does life want from me? What are my circumstances calling me to do?

Consider the attempt to comfort an individual enduring some trauma. Many of us stumble in such situations; however, people with 'character' know exactly what to do. In the first place, they just show up and don't make comparisons. The sensitive person understands that each person's ordeal is unique. Next, they do the practical things like organizing and performing any tasks that are lying around waiting to be performed. Finally, they don't try to minimize what is going on. They don't attempt to reassure with meaningless, sugary sentiments. They don't say that the pain will eventually wane. They do not resort to silver linings. They don't attempt to solve something that cannot be solved. The sensitive person grants the sufferer the dignity of their own process. She or he lets the sufferer define the meaning of the nights of pain and darkness by being practical, human, simple, direct and quite helpful.

VIKTOR FRANKL

Viktor was an Austrian Jewish person who spent much time in a concentration camp and survived this plus the loss of his family. He writes in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, "When we are no longer able to change a situation just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer." Now we are being challenged to change our outlook and ourselves. His memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful.

FREDERICK BUECHNER

Frederick Buechner asks, “At what points do my talents and deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?” In his fictional writings Buechner relates the life of Godric of Finchale, a twelfth-century English holy man whose projects late in life included that of purifying his pride. He believed that pride included sin, spiritual yearning, rebirth and self indulgence.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER

Albert Schweitzer came upon the biblical passage “Whosoever would save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall save it.” He knew at that moment he was called to give up his very successful career as a musical scholar and organist to go into medicine and become a jungle doctor. Schweitzer would write, “Anybody who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll any stones out of his way, and must calmly accept his lot even if they roll a few more onto it. Only a force, that in the face of obstacles, becomes stronger can win.”

His philosophy declares that, "The Jesus of Nazareth who came forward publicly as the Messiah, who preached the ethic of the kingdom of God, who founded the kingdom of heaven upon earth and died to give his work its final consecration never existed. He is a figure designed by rationalism, endowed with life by liberalism, and clothed by modern theology in a historical garb. This image has not been destroyed from outside; it has fallen to pieces."

SAYINGS BY AUTHORS UNKNOWN TO ME

1. "Humility is the greatest of virtues and if you can’t learn it, God will teach it to you by humiliation."

2. "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. We must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.