Only One Thing Endures 



For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world,
and lose himself, or be cast away? Luke 9:25

While surfing the internet Diana and I found these words which were written by Horace Greeley. Fame is vapor; popularity an accident; riches take wings; only one thing endures and that is character.

Greeley's though brought to mind the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities, which stars Tom Hanks whose character is a wealthy trader on Wall Street. He certainly has fame as he is well-known for his ability to invest his client's money in ways that not only increases their wealth but his as well. He and his wife are popular among the rich and powerful people with whom they associate. Their wealth is visible in their magnificent home and their lavish lifestyle. As Greeley says, however, all of these things' fail to endure for Hanks and his wife.

Due to a wrong turn Hanks finds himself in a dangerous part of New York City; it is this "wrong turn" which changes his life. His fame vaporizes; his popularity is lost, and his riches most decidedly take wings. What of his character?

Actually his character becomes stronger due to his wrong turn. He finds himself and we have reason to believe that he will become a better person, a person whom you and I would like to know.

In 1999 Barbara Gallette approached me about the possibility of The Star carrying a weekly column entitled Character First. She left me materials about the program whose founder believes that character comes first in our lives. He believes everything follows from the character which we possess and by which we live. I agree with his premise.

Larry Brownlee approved of the concept of the column and I began working with the materials developing it. When I left the employment of The Star Barb continued the column for many months. I miss the inclusion of those thoughts in the paper. I believe that character is not an accident, nor is it something forced upon us. Character is developed.

Character is not something developed and done with; it is something developing. It is not something that has happened to us, it is something which we are developing during our entire life. We are becoming the person we want to be and we continue to become that person for as long as we have life. Every consideration, every decision and every action we take, determines the person whom we are becoming.

Martin Buber, an influential 20th century German philosopher, said, "I must see my students as they are, not as they are in this moment, but as they truly are, as they are becoming." For many years as I looked out upon my classroom I kept his thought in mind. The students before me were not "finished products."

I have turned that thought inward upon myself. I am also a Person becoming, not a finished product. As everything follows from the character which we possess and by which we live, then character is what counts, not reputation. Reputation is a matter of judgment.

ONLY ONE THING ENDURES - CHARACTER.

 

 


(written February, 2002) 

Posted: Thu - January 19, 2006 at 05:48 PM        

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