VIRTUE

"Virtue is its own punishment", says Denniston, whoever Denniston may be. Obviously he is a pessimist, albeit a realist, and that for two reasons. First of all, those who do good are always suspect. "Nobody is that good," we say. "What's her motive?" we wonder. Somehow we seem to get the impression that people are good either because they are afraid of being bad or because they want to get something in return for their good actions – something even better.

But is that really true for you and for me?  Granted, we are not always all that good. Granted, there is a little sin in each one of us, a little too much perhaps. But we are not good simply because we are afraid of what will happen to us were we to stray from the path of righteousness. Let's give ourselves and our God a little credit. We are basically good people who do good because that is the way God created us. That's the way we are.

And, granted, sometimes we do have ulterior motives for being good, or at least better than we might be. For children it is the Santa Claus Syndrome: "Better watch out...Santa Claus is coming to town" For adults, it is the Selfish Syndrome: "I want something I may not really deserve, all else being equal."

So, in all honesty, we are good sometimes for the wrong reasons. We are virtuous sometimes for other than the right or best reasons. But that is no reason not to be virtuous. Contrary to Denniston, virtue is its own reward: just knowing we are doing what we should be doing makes us feel good. And isn't that sometimes, even always, reward enough for us??

Denniston is a realist, secondly, however, because he realizes that those who do good are called upon to do good again...and again and again. Denniston might call such people "suckers." I suspect God would call them Christians, call them his children.  Yes, if we do good for others, we get a reputation. People begin to expect it of us. Churches and pastors who are generous in helping people who knock on their doors soon find a line of people looking for help. But is helping another person, deserving or not, a form of punishment? Really?

If we took Denniston seriously, the only reason to be virtuous is so that we can get something out of our actions. Virtue would not be its own reward. On the contrary, if we listen to Denniston, we would be virtuous because we were looking for a reward. Obviously, I don't buy that. Virtue is its own reward.

All you and I need do to verify that is look back upon those times when we were good, selfless. Selfishness, on the other hand is its own punishment. All we need do to verify that is remember those times when we have been selfish.

If we are looking for rewards for our actions, there is only one way to go: the way of the virtuous, the way of Jesus which, yes, is sometimes the way of the cross. But that, too, that cross, is the way to the reward in this life and the life to come. The choice is ours.