Character

"If you want to develop character, you have to identify your strengths and use them over and over again." This is according to Chris Peterson, the VIA Institute's Science Director who goes on to says that, "You can't cultivate the whole of character, but you certainly can cultivate its components."

VIA stands for "Values in Action." The group's work was put together by 55 social scientists. Featured in a recent PBS special This Emotional Life, the group offers two quizzes to discover you top character traits. I took the test a couple of years ago, and just took it once again. The same traits came out as the top two for me: 1) Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith, 2) Humor and playfulness. But this time 3) Love of learning was a change from the previous of "Zest, enthusiasm, and energy" which was the previous third trait. The fourth remains "Creativity, ingenuity, and originality." I think the change came from spending the past year teaching college one night a week.

You can take the 240-question test for free at www.viasurvey.org. While they offer additional information for a fee, I opted for the free summary. They also have a special youth survey for those 10-17 years of age.

The larger question is whether they are right about cultivating character. I will side with Aristotle and Aquinas on this and say that virtues can and should be cultivated. The best way to be trustworthy is to value honesty and in decision making do what a trustworthy person would do.

Take the survey and share your top traits. Please.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

One Way?

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life has just released the results of a survey of 35,000 Americans on their religious beliefs and practices. They found that Americans are quite flexible in their faith. On the one hand 71% believe that God is a certainty, 56% of those surveyed say religion is very important to their lives, and 58% pray daily. On the otherhand, we as a group also hold that whatever our faith is, it is not the only way to salvation and that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of our religion.

A large percentage of those of us who consider ourselves followers of Christ think that others who have not professed faith in Jesus will still end up in heaven. The Pew survey found that only Mormons (57%) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (80%) have majorities who claim that their religion is the one true faith.

Are other faiths right?
I have dealt before with this problem of declaring Jesus to the The Way, The Truth and The Life while trying to acknowledge the good within other faiths. The religion column Can Other Religions Be True is my attempt to deal with this in 1,000 words.

What I Believe
I am not a Christian for no particular reason, with Christianity being just one path among many other equally valid ones. I feel that God is working beyond all denominations and even through many religions to reach as many as can be reached with the love that is God's. After all Jesus told Nicodemus that the wind blows where it will. I believe that wind is God's Holy Spirit present through all creation, and so present beyond any church, reaching out to all.

I also believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the best guide to God. I am a Christian because Jesus was and is who he said he was and in following him I have the clearest picture of who God is and what God wants. It is that spirit bearing witness to my spirit that causes me to affirm the Christian faith within me. So I am solidly and unapologetically Christian.

I preach Christianity because I know it to be true. I know that what Jesus taught works. I can not say that about other faiths, except in the ways in which their beliefs coincide with Christian teaching.

The Big BUT
Here comes the however that may be just my version of why so many persons of faith felt that their way might not be the only one: I don't have the arrogance to suggest that faithful adherants of other faiths who seem to be good and Godly (if not Christian) are not connected to God. I do know Jesus to be The Way, I just can't answer as to whether, for example, the faithful Rabbi that he has not found that way through Judaism. In my experience, there are others who do not hold to Christianity who seem to be connected to God in a significant way.

So I am left in that middle ground that seems to be American. I hold to my faith and think it is not just right for me, but truly right. I want others to follow that path and am concerned that they might never get to God without doing so. Then I see in the lives of some others of differing faiths that it seems that God has found them already. Can I deny that? I don't think so as I think to say someone else is not connected to God, I run the high risk of denying God's presence working in and through that person?

The edge of the herd
So, my strategy for mission is to leave alone those whose faith works for them in a real and meaningful way and say that when it comes to folks of other faiths, we should just pick the sickly ones off the edge of the herd who have yet to find God on the spiritual path they are on.

What do you think?
Yes, I know what I have written can come across as wishy-washy. I'm just trying to be honest about what I believe and where that leaves me. Where do you stand?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

The Next Generation

Christianity, like all faiths, exists one generation away from extinction. We pass our faith on to the next generation or the next generation will not know about Jesus Christ. A recent survey by the Barna Group of households identifying themselves as Christians who have young children in the home found,

When asked to identify their biggest personal challenges related to faith or spirituality, the most common response related to raising moral children or youngsters with a strong faith. In total, one out of every seven parents (14%) who identified themselves as Christian listed this as their spiritual challenge. Only one other response - the need to personally invest more time in religious activities, such as reading the Bible or praying - was mentioned by at least one out of every ten parents (10%).

More than one hundred different responses were provided by survey respondents, reflecting the breadth of spiritual issues that Americans struggle with. Other categories of concerns mentioned included the desire to more consistently exhibit faith-driven behavior (8%); the need to be more involved in a church (7%); effectively dealing with the declining moral values and inappropriate media content in our society (6%); handling various lifestyle challenges that weaken their faith (5%); confidently coping with health matters (4%); and having a deeper or more substantive faith (4%).

When asked to rate eight specific challenges, the survey found:

One out of every three parents (34%) said having enough time to devote to their faith was a major challenge. Almost as many (30%) said helping their children to become more spiritual was a major challenge.

About two out of every ten parents listed each of the other six possibilities as major challenges. Those included enabling their spouse to be more spiritual (23%); growing spiritually, personally (21%); understanding what’s in the Bible (20%); finding a church or faith community that’s right for them (19%); getting a sense of direction from God (18%); and practicing the faith principles they had learned (18%).

If you wonder whether the report is accurate, it should be noted that a higher concern for the spirituality of children was noted in the southern region.

In his conclusion to the report summary, George Barna wrote,

Our studies show that the faith principles and practices that a child absorbs by age thirteen boldly shapes their spirituality for the duration of their life. Parents have a greater impact on that process than anyone else.

The full text is online here: Americans are not concerned about their spiritual nature.

In the archives you will find information on Making room for children in church and religion columns Teach your children well and Recapture child-like faith.