Invisible

One of my hobbies from a very young age is hanging out at the local library. I have passed that love on to my children. On a recent trip with my daughter, I picked up a book called "Patterns" by author Mel Lawrenz. It is a book about choices, habits and disciplines.

I read this short section tonight. It is very thought provoking....

IF YOU WERE INVISIBLE

There is a story of a shepherd named Gyges who found a magic gold ring that had the power to make him invisible. He discovered its power quite by accident when he was sitting with some fellow shepherds and happened to twist the ring so that its bezel was on the inside of his hand. Twisting the ring back again, Gyges reappeared.

Then human nature took over. Gyges realized that with his power he could go anywhere and do anything, so he moved into the royal court, seduced the queen, attacked and murdered the king, and took over the throne.

When Plato the Greek philosopher wrote of this fable in The Republic, he was making a simple point: we would quickly discover the true character of a person if that person had the power to be invisible. We find out what kind of people we are, in other words, by noticing how we behave when no one else can see us.

The word character originates from a word for a stamp that leaves an imprint, like a die used to make coins. Your character is the very shape of your inner life (your thoughts, motives, values, impulses, responses), which is revealed in the shape of your outer life (your actions, behaviors, speech, relationships). And then this sobering thought: the shape of your character may be stamped on someone else's character, for good or for ill.

Your character is never defined by one or two significant righteous deeds or by one or two failings. The pattern of your life constitutes your character, the shape or the imprint of your life.

So...I pose two questions for everyone tonight...

1. What is the shape of your life?
2. Who's life is your character being stamped upon?

It's something for all of us to think about.