Character

A boy came home from school with a report card that was not very complimentary.  It was a disaster, in fact.  His father brought the subject up at the dinner table that evening.  The boy's response was quite resourceful.  He said, "Dad, we have a problem here, all right.  What do you think?  Is it primarily environmental or hereditary?"

Humor aside, we often look for excuses. Character is the fruit of personal choice‑‑and exertion.  It is not inherited from parents; it is not an appendage of birth, wealth, talent or station; but it is the result of one's own endeavors.  It is the result and reward of "good principles sown in the course of a lifetime of virtuous and honorable action" (J. Dawes).

     A generation ago, the Quaker theologian Elton Trueblood spoke of the necessity of being well planted: 

"The terrible danger of our time consists in the fact that ours is a cut‑flower civilization.  Beautiful as cut flowers may be, and much as we may use our ingenuity to keep them looking fresh for a while, they will eventually die, and they die because they are severed from their sustaining roots.  We are trying to maintain the dignity of the individual apart from the deep faith that every person is made in God's image and therefor draws life from the divine source."

Character is defined by what you are willing to do when the spotlight has been turned off, the applause has died down, and no one is around to give you credit.