Maiden Voyage…"The Character of Character"

So I have another Friday morning distraction with which to practice the art of procrastination. Blogging. Something I’ve only heard about on NPR until I decided to give it a whirl…and thus begin my first entry. The maiden voyage. The proverbial first pancake. The inaugural peep echoing into this now empty Electronic chamber.

Why now? I decided to create this blog to accompany a new sermon series I’m beginning on…character. For some reason, this subject seems to continue to bubble up in the soupy mess of my consciousness and prayer life. Does character matter? Is character the nature we’re given, or is it imparted to us by our parents, our clan, our culture? Is it consciously chosen, or unconsciously pre-determined?

This question is particularly interesting to me as my wife and I raise a 7-year old son…who – as I did at his age – needs a good bit of character education. Many of us are struggling with these issues. How do we transmit life-giving values, self-affirming values, to our kids, in a culture that seems only to value achievement – getting into the best school, getting the best job, getting busy, getting ahead? But to what purpose? And as for the adults among us…what manner of persons shall we be?

What are the characteristics of a life-well lived? Is there a natural and metaphysically real “good” out there, as Aristotle would claim, toward which all of life aims–a good whose embodiment in human virtue is most conducive to human thriving? If so, how do we live such a life? And, the bottom line for us: what does that mean to the Christian life? How does our faith in God enable us to live this kind of “abundant life” that Jesus himself promised his followers?

I would invite readers and hearers to reflect on these questions and respond here. And if those don’t get you going, here are some others:

* In my reading, living a life of virtue seems to go hand in hand with discipline. Our habits are most indicative of our character. We develop habits of the good life – or sometimes develop habits that are less than life-giving. What habits, or virtues, seem most conducive to such a life well-lived? What habits of the heart do you practice? What virtues and values are you seeking to teach your children?

* What are the death-dealing influences and potential vices with which you (and your family) are struggling? What are the societal pressures and cultural toxins you find yourself fending off in living your own life, and if you’re a parent, in raising your kids?

* Are your schools paying attention to character education? What should we do as a church community?

* What is good reading on this subject? In a future post, I plan to talk more about the literature out there about character education, which is often grounded in a very broad understanding of character and virtue. For example, who could argue against practicing and teaching the virtue of integrity and honesty? But some literature I’ve read equates virtue with abstinence-only sex education, and with counseling your child out of homosexual feelings – culture-war axe grinding that obscures more than clarifies what it means to impart virtue and character.

What do you think? Comments, reflections, and more questions, are most welcome!

– Jeff Vamos

PS – I’m doing this first entry…and will probably follow up with several during the sermon series, which ends on the last Sunday in February. But the blog is designed to be written by our whole staff. In the future, look for entries from Mary Alice, Bryce, Rich, Robyn, Jeanne, and others.