The Unblogger

I have found this semester, as I learned about ethics and virtue that I can talk about them and agree with them, without instituting them into portions of my life. I also find that if I do not institute them into my life, they are of no use at all. What is the point of learning if it does not change you? And so today, two months late, I blog about the importance of lessons learned and virtue instilled.
Dictionary.com defines virtue as, “Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.” If this is indeed what virtue is, and I believe it is a good summation, then homework and life in general will fall into the application of this definition. I work for the YMCA. The YMCA has four core values that it tries to serve by. They are Responsibility, Respect, Caring, and Honesty. As an employee, I have agreed to model my life after these core values, especially when I am at work. I teach these values to children everyday. I say that I live by them, and mostly I do, but this all breaks down when it comes to my homework. I have always, ever since grade school had a hard time doing homework for certain classes, most prominently the ones I enjoy. I find that I get so sidetracked by the idea that I am finally learning something useful, that I do not do that which is asked of me. I read the textbooks over and over, but the assignments seem unnecessary somehow. Philosophy has created the most problem for this trend.
Philosophy this semester has taught me that virtue and ethics are important because they feed into the very core of society. I see that every action has behind it a philosophy, whether it is recognized or not. I see that the philosophy I preach and the philosophy I live are very opposed to each other. I know that I cannot stand when people are irresponsible and disrespectful, and yet I am just that every time I undervalue the assignments given me. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy them, I just don’t think of them because I’m busy thinking about all of the other learning I am doing; and therein lies my problem. I cannot be a walking oxymoron, because then I am not fulfilling my purpose in life, which is what philosophy is for anyways. This is one of the few classes that demands physical and spiritual change. I cannot say I succeeded this semester, unless I walk away having changed my habit, and thus my philosophy about homework and life. I am not being a productive contributor to society if I am not contributing to the work load. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” I am a teacher of small children. I am required to change to be worth their time.