Character? What for?

At work today, we had a meeting to hear a woman speak on the subject of character. I generally enjoy these sorts of meetings, not necessarily because of the speakers, but simply because I do not have to work during that time, and sometimes they run long, which means overtime. The speaker today was at least entertaining, but the subject caused my mind to wander a bit.

Though the talk was good, and her points fine, I could not understand why she thought character so important. Seemingly she thought it important for personal gain. That is, she believes that men with character will eventually be recognized for that character and be rewarded. But then, she did not seem to believe that greed was a good quality, and so I wondered if the quest for character for personal gain was self-defeating.

You see, it is easy to take the concepts of Good and Evil out of life, but then life becomes very difficult to live. Because her definition of character was a modern one, without reference to God or a greater Good, she had to resort to promoting a Virtue for the sake of a Vice. That is: act according to the rules so that you can gain benefits.

I believe in character, but I believe that character points to something higher. Without that touchstone of an Absolute Good, character is meaningless. It is pliable and corruptible. It is a means to an end.

Belief in something as good must point us to recognize the Good. I wish the speaker would have taken that step.

–Paul Lytle
Primum Mobile Magazine
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