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Keynote Address for the Reception of the John Winthrop Wright Ethics in Action Award
May 2012
Posted in Selected Homilies/Addresses

I.    Introduction

Dr. Wangaard, members of the Board of the School for Ethical Education,
and dear friends:

A.    Several months ago, when I learned that I would have the honor of receiving
the 2012 John Winthrop Wright Ethics in Action award,
I had no idea that this evening’s celebration would turn out to be
one of my last public events in Connecticut.  
In mid-March, I learned that Pope Benedict XVI had decided
that I should become the Archbishop of Baltimore.
I will begin that new work in just a few days, and of course, I ask for your prayers.

B.    All of us who have had the experience of moving know
that to pull up stakes, to pack up everything, and to move
represents the end of one chapter in our lives, and the beginning of another.  
And the process of turning that page brings
not only an opportunity to clear out some clutter,
but also to take the wide-angle view of one’s life,
and to spend more time than usual taking stock of what really matters the most.
That certainly has been my experience during these past several weeks.  
And for just a moment, let me share just a few of those thoughts with you now.

II.    Ethics in Action Creates Character

A.    Each of us here in this room comes from a unique background.  
We come from various different religious faiths, or none at all.  
But all of us tonight share a common appreciation of the importance of character,
of the importance of standing for something,
of the importance of refusing to be swept downstream by a culture
which can all too easily lead us down paths
which do not build up the common good, or even our own happiness.  

B.    Now the motto of the School for Ethical Education is
“Ethics in Action Creates Character.”  
A person’s character doesn’t just come out of nowhere;
it is built up over the course of years;
it is a composite of numberless individual decisions.  
And the beginning of our character, dear friends, begins with our thoughts.  
This is because our thoughts lead to actions,
and repeated actions become habits,
and habits form our character.  
And it is our character that determines our destiny.

C.    A person who lives by morally good habits -- or virtues -- is,
we might say, a virtuous person.  
And a person who lives by morally bad habits -- or vices -- is,
we might say, a vicious person.  
Indeed, this is what prompted the 19th century German writer,
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, to write so incisively,
“Mastery of the moment is mastery over life.”

D.    It is also what led Saint Paul to write to the first Christians at Phillipi:
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Then will the God of peace be with you .”

E.    Paul was exhorting the early Christians to be people of goodness –
to be ethical, virtuous, even to be holy.  
And he did so by commending to their careful consideration
all that is good and true and beautiful,
since he knew that the beginning of our character goes back to our thoughts.

III.    Love and Truth

A.    Speaking of the true, the good, and the beautiful,
perhaps it wouldn’t be out of place, on an evening like this,
to think for a moment about the meaning of love.  
Love, after all, is good.  It is true.  It is beautiful.  
And who wouldn’t want that for themselves?  
For those they care about? For everybody?  
Mother Teresa used to say that the most important lesson
that parents can teach their children is the lesson of how to love and how to be loved.  

B.    But there can be no authentic love apart from the truth.  
Indeed, we cannot hope to be ethical persons
unless we are motivated by a genuine concern for the common good,
for the flourishing and dignity of our fellow human beings
in the context of authentic freedom.  
This presupposes some common ground, though,
and Catholic thinkers through the centuries have pointed in this regard
to the universal moral law which is written on the heart of every person.

C.    Indeed, one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century,
Pope John Paul II, once said,
“Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love.
And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth!
One without the other becomes a destructive lie .”

D.    In the course of history, much harm has been done in the name of truth.  
When truth is used as a battering ram, or a weapon,
simply to defeat or even to browbeat,
we can be sure we have ventured well beyond the borders
of genuine concern for the common good and human flourishing.

E.    Similarly, when we speak of love, we might think of the words of Thomas Aquinas, one of the great thinkers in history,
who said that to love is to will the good of another.  
But when love is divorced from any objective and universal standard of truth,
it quickly devolves into manipulation, and even oppression.  

F.    Love and truth always go together.  
When they are separated, no good ever comes of it.  
“Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love.
And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth!
One without the other becomes a destructive lie.”

IV.    Formation in Character

A.    Therefore, when we speak of the formation of young people
in character, ethics, and virtue,
so that they might work toward the common good
and, in this life, their own happiness,
we do so precisely in the context of a culture
that is all too ready to visit upon them the painful consequences
which inevitably ensue when love and truth are separated from each other.

B.    As we’ve all experienced ourselves, some of this formation comes by trial and error.  And if the process of the formation of a young person’s character is easy,
chances are it’s not authentic character formation at all,
but a comfortable counterfeit.  
No, character formation is rigorous, and it depends on good example,
and sometimes recalibration when one has veered off course.

C.    It’s almost like the process that transforms carbon deposits
far below the surface of the earth.  
When this carbon, in a consistent but largely unseen process,
goes through the crucible of heat and great intensity over time,
some of it is transformed into diamonds –
things that are rare, and strong, and brilliant.  
And once those diamonds are discovered, and selected, and polished,
they sparkle and shine, and they are able to cut through the seemingly impenetrable.

V.    Conclusion

A.    This is what we look for, and this is what we seek to form in the next generation.  
But it’s also what we strive to be ourselves.  
Because we know, at the end of the day,
that living virtuous lives brings us the peace and the satisfaction of a clear conscience.  

B.    These are some of the things I’ve been thinking about as I pack my bags
and prepare to move to a new place with new challenges.  
And I’ve thought a lot, with great gratitude, about the people in my life
who have been examples of goodness, and truth, and beauty to me.  
Because truly we stand on the shoulders of giants,
so none of us has ever really accomplished anything alone.  

C.    Thank you so much for this honor this evening.  
Perhaps I can leave you with nothing more profound than to return, with you,
to the words of Saint Paul to the community at Phillipi, when he said,
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. Then will the God of peace be with you.”

Thank you, and God bless you all!

 

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