Sometimes ideas for these inspirational pieces come from odd
places. For example, today’s idea was
inspired by the business section of the local newspaper. My local newspaper is a pretty good one. In fact, it enjoys some national stature,
even though newspapers in general are going through some hard times. I am an avid reader of newspapers, but
frankly I don’t expect to be inspired by the business section!
What also seemed odd to me was the randomness of this piece
of inspiration. It was a single
quotation at the top on page 3. It was a
single sentence and told me it was from Michael Woodward, a psychologist and
author. There was no reference to a book
or article, but I expected to see a reference somewhere in an article in the
business section. I could find
nothing. Poor Michael Woodward stood
alone at the top of page 3 with nary a clue who chose the quotation or why it
was chosen. I concluded that it was
perhaps chosen for me!
The sentence is simple, but quite significant for me. It reads: “Most people can’t articulate their
core values and thus tend to make the same bad choices over and over again.” Although I never put it this way, the first
half of the sentence resonates very well for me and the work I have been
doing. Along with a co-author, I have
written a couple books that basically focus on ‘core values.” I go with the much more ancient and classical
language of “virtues.” But I suspect
this is what Woodward means when he uses “core values” language.
Classically speaking, some of the core virtues that
philosophers and theologians have identified are love, justice, courage,
prudence and some others. These virtues
guided human beings in how they see the world and how they act within the
world. At heart, they are the building
blocks of ethical actions. And these
virtues become the building blocks of integrity and what we want to call,
character.
Clearly the religious giants of the ages---Jesus, the
Buddha, the saints---have all known and lived by their core values---their
virtues. No one can explain Mother
Teresa’s tireless work in Calcutta by any other means than her commitment to
those core virtues. And clearly those
virtues were part and parcel of her faith in God and desire to imitate the life
and action of Jesus.
This brings me to the second half of Woodward’s
quotation. Let’s assume he is correct
that most people can’t articulate their core values. This tells me they can’t articulate them
because they don’t know what those core values are or, worse yet, they don’t
have any core values. According to
Woodward, that has consequences. They
make bad choices over and over again.
This would be funny, if it were not so sad! We all know folks who seem to make bad choices
and then make bad choices over and over again.
Sometimes the bad choices are pretty superficial and it does not matter too
much. But other times, the bad choices
bear huge consequences and we watch folks do it time after time. Why, we think to ourselves? Why do they keep doing it?
Woodward has his idea.
It is because they can’t even tell you what their core values would have
them do. This would be like a ship
without a rudder. In contemporary terms,
it is like the traveler who has no GPS or in older days, no map. When there are no core values, then we are
more likely to be driven by self-interest or our own egos.
Self-interest is not inherently bad, but it certainly is not
inherently good. If we do not have some
core virtues, like love and justice, then self-interest likely will sacrifice
the good for my interest. This is why
Jesus and all his true followers knew love and justice as core virtues and,
thus, were able to make good choices over and over again.
Essentially to follow the example of Jesus and other
spiritual folks, there is a three-stage process. First, we need to have some core virtues (or
values). Religious traditions suggest
the time-honored ones like love, justice, courage, prudence and
temperance. A long time ago Aristotle
said a virtue is something, which always “aims at the good.” So by definition a virtue is good because it
aims at the good.
Core virtues help me aim at the good. Hopefully, this limits the bad choices I
make. And this leads to the second
step. If I have those virtues in place
and know them, then I can articulate them.
Simply speaking, I know them and can tell you what they are.
Finally, there is the third and crucial step. I have virtues, I know them, but in the end I
have to act on them. A virtue is not a
virtue until it is an action. Before the
action step, a virtue is simply an idea.
To have core values, to know them and to act on them means I make good
choices over and over again.
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