Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedThere is but one pursuit in life which it is in the power of all to follow, and of all to attain. It is subject to no disappointments, since he that perseveres, makes every difficulty an advancement, and every contest a victory; and this is the pursuit of virtue. – Rev. Caleb Charles Colton (1780-1832)
I chose this epigraph to clear the room. Virtue? Yikes. Yuk. Who today dares even to utter the word, much less discuss the topic. Maybe in the phrase “by virtue of” it’s admissible into the vernacular but even then, slide rapidly over it as over a recently frozen pond, lest the ice crack.
The “vir” in virtue half disqualifies it in an epoch dedicated to gender equity. Who said men were virtuous! That misses the point. When the word was coined, strength, honor, probity were associated with men but not limited to them. “Virago,” another vir cognate, originally meant an heroic woman. This sense gravitated to an horrendous woman. That is sexism. All my favorite females are viragos in the original sense.
Most of us have a sense what “virtue” means but tiptoe around the concept, embarrassed by its lapse. Our grandparents may have exhibited the honesty, decency, courage, kindness, justice, patience, piety and humility evoked by the term, but today our attention has meandered elsewhere. Except in eulogies, we’re more likely to talk about a person’s accomplishments, possessions, reputation, than their character.
Forty years ago, I’d have blanched to write, even think, the foregoing four paragraphs. What a dork! But times change. We are not where we were or I who I was. Virtue’s no longer a tintype heirloom like antimacassars or spats, but a desperate requirement. We’re dying for the want of it, swirling in a whirlpool of its opposites – lying, cruelty, cowardice, injustice, impatience, intolerance, pride – “circling the drain” – and either we revive and imbibe the ideal or slither into a cesspool of servility and futility.
Do I sound apocalyptic? I feel it. Each day’s news worse. In our national government, lies, vengeance, betrayal, swaggering, pusillanimity, theft. Throughout the world ever more folks serving selfish, as opposed to common, interests. To aspire to be good is to be a laughingstock. More, more, more for me, to hell with anybody else.
What caused this moral meltdown is a deeply interesting discussion for another day. Now we must focus forward. We are – all too evidently! – where we are. What do we do about it?
For starters, we acknowledge our disease: diagnosis must precede cure. We the people are not going through a bad patch; our body politic is putrefying into punk. Radical surgery is called for, not oh, well, maybe we’ll feel better tomorrow.
We must dare to discuss our putrefaction, punish bad behavior, teach better. STEM -- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math – comprise a promising syllabus, but without virtue, any skills we obtain may bend in vile directions. Virtue is the compass without which we lose our way. We must teach ourselves to be good.
How? Beats me. Talking about virtue is a good place to start. Most know what virtue is, though some may shrug, same old, same old. Even those who know forget. That’s why moralists have been teaching and screeching the same themes since the dawn of speech. That’s why the words of Reverend Colton, an eloquent, probing aphorist, honored in his hour, deserve to be revived. We should brush up, too, on the Sermon on the Mount, the Gettysburg Address and Golden Rule, making yesterday’s wisdom tomorrow’s.