The long and winding road...
When I started this project, I used the image of a journey to describe growth in virtue. Every step takes you closer to your destination, and every step matters, and so on.
Lately, though, another image has been coming to mind: building a house. First, you have to lay the foundation, then erect the frame structure, then hang the walls, and the plumbing and wiring, and so on and so forth. If any of the major elements are missing, the whole house collapses. But there are also lots of choices, such as the kind of siding or roofing material, the color, whether there’s a deck or not; and, while these don’t affect the basic structure, they do add character to the house. They make it unique.
Virtue: a place to live
Likewise with virtue: some virtues are absolutely necessary. They’re called cardinal virtues for a reason. No one’s life will remain standing without a foundation of prudence, a strong frame of justice, fortitude to stand against the storm and temperance to hold the different parts of the structure in right relationship to each other.
Other choices and actions are more individual: virtues of music or art, virtues of law or medicine or craftsmanship, virtues of humor and wit, and so on. These develop one’s character – not to make us more human in the basic sense, but to make us more ourselves. They make us to be better at being this person.
I don’t think I’ll abandon the journey image. It still resonates with me on many levels: the importance of each step, of putting one foot in front of the other; the time that it takes to reach a destination, and the beauty of all the things you can see along the way.
But, at the very least, I’ve found another image to add to my vocabulary. It seems to be working for me. I hope it works for you as well.
I like the house analogy as well because it implies that you need a solid out of sight framework of some sort.
A solid house is built on a solid foundation with a solid frame work (ie the cardinal virtues. You don’t see these things in the finished house and people rarely get excited about it. (I marvel how many homeowners I’ve read completely ignored foundation cracks or inability to open windows, etc when buying homes and then were angry when they were “duped” about it.)
People so often rush to build the fun stuff that the structure is glossed And yet it’s impossible to build a welcoming home of any sort unless the “boring” stuff has been well built.