There are those who want us to believe that there is no such thing as character. There are varying situations, they say, but no such thing as stable character. I was reading about one such person a day or so ago. I haven’t read his work yet, but the very premise of that work is flawed. I strongly disagree with his uninformed opinion. Our world knows a scarcity of many things, and there is indeed a scarcity of true character, but there is not a lack of character.
Take, for example, the teen who lives in a small town east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adam Silvis, 17, is a young man who has, in at least one area of life, the courage of his convictions. Adam was absolutely certain, on October 12, 2005, that causing injury to a fellow human is wrong. He was certain, too, that someone who witnesses such injury has a duty to prevent the deed if at all possible. So when Adam stumbled upon one woman trying to cut a baby out of another’s womb with a box cutter, he took action.
Adam managed to look unconcerned, despite his growing fear. He passed the women in his ATV, took a moment to pretend he was completing his purpose for passing through that secluded area of forest, and then headed home. It was only about 150 yards to the home, and Adam jumped from his ATV, racing inside to tell his father what was happening. The father and son were soon back at the site, and with a quick call, had police and ambulance service on the spot in minutes.
Thanks to the teen’s courage of convictions, and his character-in-action, the lives of both mother and baby were saved, and a criminal was placed behind bars.
Adam said, “I definitely think God put me in the right place and in the right situation at the right time.”
We think so, too. That courage of convictions is not simply a response to a situation. It is a strength that Adam had built throughout the years, with the help of adults in his life.
Adam reminds me of a fictitious young man who had the courage of his convictions, Andrew McKean, protagonist in the teen novel, Passport to Courage. Andrew McKean was a year younger than Adam Silvis, and his exercise of the courage of his convictions was needed in a different realm of life, but the story is sure to help teenagers stop and think about how important this character trait is. It is sure to help maturing teens realize that character is alive and well, and that they need to work earnestly at building it into their lives.
I wonder if the man who believes there is no such thing as character in our world would like to have a young teen see him in the forest, a foe standing over him, blood flowing from his stomach – and pass by because it was just a situation in which he did not have a part. Or would he prefer, in his time of dire need, a teen like Adam Silvis?
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?