This is a particularly difficult time to perform this type of exercise. Many "classic" virtues have been blurred by our culture which values money, sex, and power more than anything. Sole devotion to these three entities is a recipe for disaster. Consequently, we must look at the greater virtues.
An illustrative issue right now is the controversy surrounding Mother Teresa of Calcutta's one- hundredth birthday. The owners of the Empire State Building have turned down a request to light the building in blue and white, the colors of the Mother Teresa's order- the Missionaries of Charity. These are a group of courageous women based in India but stationed throughout the world, including New York. Their mission is to take care of the "sickest of the sick" and all of society's outcasts. They take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and live them. I have had the great blessing of meeting Mother Teresa and her sisters and can only say that there is nothing we could ever do to thank them enough for the work that they have done over the years. Their work and example exudes charity and kindness, the likes of which our world desperately needs. They are role models for anyone who wants to succeed.
The controversy comes into play because a few years ago, the same owners of the Empire State Building dutifully illuminated it on the anniversary of Mao Zedong's communist revolution in China, celebrating atheistic communism. His regime was single-handedly responsible for tens of thousands of deaths of Chinese people. The communist model is a dismal failure that enslaves and devalues the individual for the good of the State. There are no redeeming qualities to celebrating it anywhere, especially in our great country. Nonetheless, there are forces in our country that will honor this evil and ignore the good works of a tiny nun who cared for AIDs patients when it was not popular and who cleaned and embraced the dying in the slums of India.
My friends, to achieve happiness and success, it is necessary to surround yourself with those people who are kind and practice virtue. You will learn from them how to find joy in finding the goodness that exists in every person. Embracing philosophies like communism that values the whole more than the parts is a sure way to be unhappy, materialistic, bitter, and a failure.
There are no material things that can give you true happiness. Stand up, look for people with virtue and embrace them. You will find real power and joy there.
