The Toll on Character
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
As mature elders, we are in a great position reflect upon St. Augustine's famous statement:
There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
This statement implies something important about the character of a "sinner," the character of a "saint," and the character of each of us: that is, the power to change self.
There is the thing that was, and there is the thing that is. There is the thing that is, and the there is the thing that will be.
A life is a progression, it can ascend or it can descend. But, time and change are an important part of a formula of character. We know this fact, of course, because the point is made in every book we read, every university we attend, and every life lesson we experience. We learn, experience and change.
Character is not static, but a work in progress.
We change by education and discipline, we change by experience, and we change by trauma. The movie The Defiant Ones makes the point. But, even if we do nothing and experience nothing, time alone will change us.
We should be careful in judging someone's character, and any psychologist of character will suggest that it is better to condemn an event rather than quickly to label a person without foundation. That is, to say, "You lied," rather than, "You are a liar." An event is what a person did, a label says what a person is.
Even persons with stellar character can and will make mistakes, and, perhaps, strengthened their character because of past mistakes. Wisdom is to understand the difference between an act and a character.
Wisdom understands time and the power to change.
Whether or not someone is a theist, atheist or perhaps a theist Christian, there is a lesson from Jesus, when he referenced his own reputation from those who would injure him, relative to the collection of the deeds performed:
For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is vindicated by her works.
[ONE: 1020-1022; T11:18-19; L7:33-35]
Jesus makes the point that John the Baptist was socially condemned for being too ascetic, and Jesus was socially condemned for not being ascetic enough. But, as Jesus says, if wisdom retains its discipline of focus, it will find character from real effects over and in the context of time.
Jesus further demonstrated the point about character judgment when the woman was being condemned by others:
He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. And, those who heard it, being guilty by their own conscience, departed, one after the other, starting first with the elders.
[ONE: 1413-1417; J8:7-11] Subtle perhaps, but it is no accident that the mature elders departed first.
It is easy to cast stones at character. And, it is easy to isolate specific acts inductively to conclusion, but that form of logic is not always correct, and in many cases that form of reasoning is fundamentally flawed. [1, 2, 3] To judge the current character of another person fairly, we must be wise and disciplined to ask ourselves how we have accounted for time, context, the potential for change—and the vindication perhaps by the body of a person's life-works. What is an act and who is the person are different questions. We've all made mistakes.
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The great John Donne makes the point in a different way and context than did Jesus, but is instructive to us nonetheless:
Send not to know, For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.
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* Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., is Managing Shareholder of Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC. Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups, INC. 500, and publicly traded companies. He is author of One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus, and The Business of Aesop™ article series, and co-author with his father, Arnold Zegarelli, of The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers. Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.
© 2018 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn.
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