{"id":6934,"date":"2016-11-29T06:46:45","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T11:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6934"},"modified":"2016-11-29T06:46:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T11:46:45","slug":"the-validity-of-the-virtue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6934","title":{"rendered":"the validity of the virtue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pbgwsmxxq4k-kristopher-roller.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-6935\" src=\"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pbgwsmxxq4k-kristopher-roller-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"pbgwsmxxq4k-kristopher-roller\" width=\"654\" height=\"436\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>What would I most like to see?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What would I most like to see <em>in<\/em> all people\u2026 <em>from<\/em> all people\u2026 <em>given to<\/em> all people\u2026<\/p>\n<p>In <em>all<\/em> things\u2026 in sports, politics, relationships, families, you-name-it\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Instead of division&#8230; instead of the strife\u2026 instead of any arrogance, self-righteousness, or denigration\u2026 I wish for the following in all:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Love<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Joy<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Peace<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Patience<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Kindness<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Goodness<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Faithfulness<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Gentleness<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>And self-control<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That\u2019s it. Easy. Well sort of.<\/p>\n<p>Ponder what would be different if we never sacrificed any of the above\u2026 if we never deemed one of the above unnecessary\u2026 or if we never justified the omission of one.<\/p>\n<p>I wish I would have never said, thought, or justified&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>I&#8217;m so mad, I don&#8217;t need to love my neighbor well\u2026<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I\u2019m so ticked off, I don\u2019t need to be patient with another side\u2026<\/em><br \/>\n<em>I&#8217;m so right, I don&#8217;t need to be gentle, not to mention any thought\u00a0of being kind\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>I&#8217;m so something\u2026<\/strong><\/em> something that dismisses the validity of the virtue.<\/p>\n<p>And then we dismiss the need for goodness, faithfulness, self-control, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Friends, against such things, there is no law; there are no restrictions. All of the above are <em>always\u00a0<\/em>good. There is never a time synonymous with wisdom that omits any of the above.<\/p>\n<p>Allow me to be more clear. I\u2019m not always all that good at all of the above. Sometimes I\u2019m not faithful, not gentle, and I have zero\u00a0desire for kindness or self-control.<\/p>\n<p>But my desire does not change what it good and true and right. What\u2019s right remains right, whether I desire it or not. In fact, if my desire contradicts what is valid and virtuous, what is valid and virtuous is not what\u2019s in need of change.<\/p>\n<p>I offer great grace to those who struggle with one or more of the above. Allow me to humbly include myself in said mix, as I\u2019m not sure any of us ever master the complete list this side of the human experience.<\/p>\n<p>However, an inability to master does not preclude the need to work on it.<br \/>\nAn inability to do it well consistently does not negate the need for growth.<br \/>\nAnd an inability to even <em>desire<\/em> such virtues never\u00a0dismisses their validity.<\/p>\n<p>Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control\u2026<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it. Easy.<\/p>\n<p>Well sort of.<\/p>\n<p>Respectfully\u2026<br \/>\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What would I most like to see? What would I most like to see in all people\u2026 from all people\u2026 given to all people\u2026 In all things\u2026 in sports, politics, relationships, families, you-name-it\u2026 Instead of division&#8230; instead of the strife\u2026 instead of any arrogance, self-righteousness, or denigration\u2026 I wish for the following in all: Love &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=6934\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;the validity of the virtue&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-current-issue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6936,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6934\/revisions\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}