How do you know if a building is strong or weak? It may be beautiful from the outside. It may be even more beautiful inside. But is it strong? Is it built on solid rock, and does it have a significant foundation? How can we tell?
On the one hand, many buildings standing in the path of a hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone, seem to have creditable strength – until the storm sweeps over them, and takes them away. Many structures stand for years, beautiful façades – until the earthquake shakes their foundations, and makes them crumble. On the other hand, we watch a few buildings come through storm, earthquake, and other disasters relatively unscathed.
Why is that? Why does one building crumble and the other stand strong? Are those strong structures built during the squall or during the earth’s heaving? Is it the storm that makes the building stronger? Does the earthquake add to its strength?
Not at all. The winds that blow and the earth that shakes are merely trials that show the building’s strength or weakness.
So it is with character. I often hear people say that character is built by the trials we endure, but I suggest that character must be built before the trial. The trial is merely a test that shows the strength of character – character built of strong material on a strong foundation. If our character is worth anything, it will stand the test. But it is not built during the test.
In the book, Passport to Courage, the male protagonist hangs motivational posters about courage all over his wall. He reads them daily, and has many of them memorized. He thinks about courage, and he wants to become a man of courage. He believes that courage is the foundation of all character – the courage of one’s convictions. The other people in his circle know about the posters and know his desire. They also want him to be a man of courage, and they see glimmers of courage now and then – a few outward signs that he may be developing courage. There is no clear indication, though, as to how strong his courage, if it exists, has become. The extent of that character trait remains hidden until the test comes. Only then does he learn whether he has what it takes to exercise courage. Only then does everyone around him see whether or not he has built courage. He cannot build courage it in the storm. There is no time. It is too late. The storm has come to try his courage, and see if he has built it strong.
The same is true of every entry on the list of character traits. We must build respect, responsibility, integrity, honesty, love, self-control, patience, and a host of other traits before life’s trials come. The tests are to show whether we have done the work well.
Weak character stands only when friends are true, the body is healthy, and the business remains profitable; but strong character stands firm even when friends turn and run, when the body becomes sick, and when everything seems to go wrong. Character that can say, in the direst trouble, “I will preserve moral excellence no matter what else I must give up,” is strong character.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?