YWValues: Virtue
This last value was added to the list in the late nineties - just after I graduated, I think. It seems refer specifically to chastity. And yet, even General Authorities speak of Virtue in its broader denotations. Rebecca pointed me to this talk, which I found enlightening. I find Virtue complicated, and I'm not sure I can write about it coherently: certainly not my best at 1:30 in the morning. But I'll try.
I need to address some important issues about the law of chastity before I broaden my discussion.
Whew! That took up a lot of space. Sorry. I know the world thinks the solution to tripping and scraping your knees is to repeal the law of gravity, but, I mean, let me know when that goes into effect, because I'll sign up for flying lessons.
We have similar misconceptions of virtue when we talk about Christian fiction. We think that a lack of sex, a lack of swearing, a lack of violence somehow makes our media virtuous, but that only makes it innocent, and innocence out of place, like sex out of place, can be harmful. It can be clumsy and ignorant and heedless. Even worse, it can be badly written. Innocence/ignorance was only ever a temporary solution. Rapunzel's tower didn't work: when she left it, she was pregnant with twins.
We are called on to purify our lives through repentance, and in that sense, we do hold up absence as our ideal. As we move forward in our lives, we sometimes turn back with the memory of a wrong that needs to be righted. But the process does not eradicate experience. We should remember our debts.
In its broader definition, "virtue" in the New Testament seems to refer to grace. Specifically, it refers to the power drawn from Jesus when individuals had faith to be healed. That idea is an odd complement to the above idea, that Virtue is a thing to be gained, rather than a thing that is lost. Only Jesus seems to "lose" virtue, while others gain healing.
"Purity" doctrines do real damage to people already in pain, and so the world would have us rage against chastity. How can we ask girls to keep themselves sexually pure? The word itself is tainted by bad science and worse religion. We should be extremely careful about how we talk about purity (if we do), so that we do not re-injure victims, or unrighteously judge our young sisters. How do we speak of this sacred topic with gravity AND kindness?
Remember that like all virtues, chastity is something to constantly strive for, and however chaste our lives, we can continue to strive upwards.
1 Sam 15:22 reminds us that it's always better to avoid error. We should avoid sin if we can, but if it were possible to avoid all sin, we would not have needed a Savior, or an Atonement.
1 Sam 15:22 reminds us that it's always better to avoid error. We should avoid sin if we can, but if it were possible to avoid all sin, we would not have needed a Savior, or an Atonement.
Whew! That took up a lot of space. Sorry. I know the world thinks the solution to tripping and scraping your knees is to repeal the law of gravity, but, I mean, let me know when that goes into effect, because I'll sign up for flying lessons.
We have similar misconceptions of virtue when we talk about Christian fiction. We think that a lack of sex, a lack of swearing, a lack of violence somehow makes our media virtuous, but that only makes it innocent, and innocence out of place, like sex out of place, can be harmful. It can be clumsy and ignorant and heedless. Even worse, it can be badly written. Innocence/ignorance was only ever a temporary solution. Rapunzel's tower didn't work: when she left it, she was pregnant with twins.
We are called on to purify our lives through repentance, and in that sense, we do hold up absence as our ideal. As we move forward in our lives, we sometimes turn back with the memory of a wrong that needs to be righted. But the process does not eradicate experience. We should remember our debts.
In its broader definition, "virtue" in the New Testament seems to refer to grace. Specifically, it refers to the power drawn from Jesus when individuals had faith to be healed. That idea is an odd complement to the above idea, that Virtue is a thing to be gained, rather than a thing that is lost. Only Jesus seems to "lose" virtue, while others gain healing.
I like to think that we grow into virtue as we advance out of innocence. That woman whose price is blessedly not quantified (because ugh) does not achieve this unspecified value by hiding from life. She builds her virtue day by day as she uses her agency to gain experiences of good and adversity, and as she uses her gifts to turn those experiences into knowledge and beauty and kindness.
As women, we have real power. The things we stand for are sometimes unpopular, but more often, our "eye single to the glory of God" lends a nuance to the good that women do inside and out of the church. We see sisters everywhere who desire to be kind, to make a difference, to discover, invent, improve situations, or care for families. The advantage that we have, that we can offer, is a nicer knowledge of rightness that comes from being close to the Savior and studying his teachings, and that is the definition of virtue that seems most practical to me. It's a refinement of feeling and taste that come from seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
As women, we have real power. The things we stand for are sometimes unpopular, but more often, our "eye single to the glory of God" lends a nuance to the good that women do inside and out of the church. We see sisters everywhere who desire to be kind, to make a difference, to discover, invent, improve situations, or care for families. The advantage that we have, that we can offer, is a nicer knowledge of rightness that comes from being close to the Savior and studying his teachings, and that is the definition of virtue that seems most practical to me. It's a refinement of feeling and taste that come from seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit.
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