So, for a scholarship application that I was filling out, I had to write an essay (shocking, I know!). The topic was: "One of the highest compliments that can be paid to someone is that she or he has 'good character.' What is your idea of 'good character'? Include examples in your answer, if you would like." It was an interesting topic, and one for which I very much enjoyed the process of composing my response. So, I've decided to post my response as a blog here. Bear in mind that due to the context, I may have softened a few of the ways I might have expressed myself, but I hope the truth still expresses itself thought what I have written. So, here it is:
"Many minds have pondered hours about the meaning of “good character” and how those values might be displayed in the context of a human life. These individuals, much wiser than myself, have reached many different conclusions. Some might say that honesty is the key to “good character”. One might say integrity. Others might say boldness, power, or leadership. Another might say wisdom, understanding and selflessness. Yet another group might say citizenship, sacrifice, and justice. One man might look to Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi and say that passionate, unswerving devotion to a cause is the definition of “good character”. A few might point to the strength of convictions of Abraham Lincoln or Nelson Mandela. This woman might say respect and that man might say loyalty. And yet others still might favor the ideals of responsibility and a drive to succeed. These definitions and characterizations of “good character” certainly all bear merit, and I would say that many of them are necessary to be considered a “person of good character”, but, any of these things, alone or in any combination with one another, cannot fully define “good character”.
The missing component from the list above, I believe, gives purpose to all things we do, or rather shows which things have little to no merit when considered in the context of our character. And, even if one possesses many of the qualities above, but lacks this one quality, we would often not deem them worth of the label of a “person of good character” because of the motivation with which they operate. That defining component, that necessary quality, is a loving, caring, and compassionate heart towards others. Without it, the things we do and the good we try to work in this world are of little value. For example, a man might passionately pursue a cause to cure a disease, such as HIV/AIDS, and even be successful, but if his motivation was discovered to be one of selfish gain, such as monetary wealth, we all might consider his cause less noble than before. We might even revile his motivations and give less credence to his “good character”. While at the same time, if his passion and life’s work and success are born out of a loving, compassionate concern for the well-being of fellow human beings, we would praise his character as being not only “good”, but excellent. The difference is love. It always has been, and always will be. Nothing good comes apart from love.
Though many may disagree with me, my experience has taught me that any loveless expression is truly a waste of time and an evidence of what one might consider “poor character”. At least, it foreshadows the probability of a failure in character down the road. My values and ideas, admittedly, have been shaped as an outpouring of my faith. As a Christian and a follower of Christ, when I see Christ’s love expressed wholly and completely in every action he made and as his motivation, I must then assume that what he expressed -love- is the key to not only to having “good character”, but also to life itself. First Corinthians chapter thirteen verses one through three say, “If I...have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal...and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Regardless of our association to faith, whether we profess to be Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, have ambivalence to faith, or have no association to faith at all, the truth and wisdom of this statement is still profound. In my quest for my own “good character”, I have chosen to be an Environmental Geosciences major with a focus in water, so that I might work with water resources in the Two-thirds World in order to provide safe and clean drinking water to those who are unable to provide such a simple necessity for themselves, and in the process, hopefully gain a “good character” and yet, even more in my faith."
The missing component from the list above, I believe, gives purpose to all things we do, or rather shows which things have little to no merit when considered in the context of our character. And, even if one possesses many of the qualities above, but lacks this one quality, we would often not deem them worth of the label of a “person of good character” because of the motivation with which they operate. That defining component, that necessary quality, is a loving, caring, and compassionate heart towards others. Without it, the things we do and the good we try to work in this world are of little value. For example, a man might passionately pursue a cause to cure a disease, such as HIV/AIDS, and even be successful, but if his motivation was discovered to be one of selfish gain, such as monetary wealth, we all might consider his cause less noble than before. We might even revile his motivations and give less credence to his “good character”. While at the same time, if his passion and life’s work and success are born out of a loving, compassionate concern for the well-being of fellow human beings, we would praise his character as being not only “good”, but excellent. The difference is love. It always has been, and always will be. Nothing good comes apart from love.
Though many may disagree with me, my experience has taught me that any loveless expression is truly a waste of time and an evidence of what one might consider “poor character”. At least, it foreshadows the probability of a failure in character down the road. My values and ideas, admittedly, have been shaped as an outpouring of my faith. As a Christian and a follower of Christ, when I see Christ’s love expressed wholly and completely in every action he made and as his motivation, I must then assume that what he expressed -love- is the key to not only to having “good character”, but also to life itself. First Corinthians chapter thirteen verses one through three say, “If I...have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal...and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Regardless of our association to faith, whether we profess to be Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, have ambivalence to faith, or have no association to faith at all, the truth and wisdom of this statement is still profound. In my quest for my own “good character”, I have chosen to be an Environmental Geosciences major with a focus in water, so that I might work with water resources in the Two-thirds World in order to provide safe and clean drinking water to those who are unable to provide such a simple necessity for themselves, and in the process, hopefully gain a “good character” and yet, even more in my faith."
