Q: What is the purpose of life?
A: The purpose of everyone’s life is to achieve spiritual maturity. It is to learn to express constant nobility of character. This means constant commitment to advocating and doing good.
Q: What is nobility of character?
A: Nobility of character is living life dedicated to benefitting everyone and to restraining, perhaps even eliminating, our personal urges to be self-serving.
Q: Where can I find an example of noble character?
A: In the pursuit of nobility of character, it is entirely appropriate to ask yourself “What would Jesus do?” This is valid even if you don’t count yourself as one of his followers. He achieved a very high degree of personality integration (spiritual motives governing thoughts and actions), and self-mastery directed toward benefitting others rather than himself.
Q: How do I develop nobility of character in myself?
A: Nobility of character is developed by adoption of higher values (virtues) and loyalty to them. Values can be high or base and therefore character can be noble or base. Personal development of nobility of character is first becoming aware that living a particular standard is a better way, then thinking and choosing how to live that way and then doing accordingly by governing one’s thoughts and deeds.
The feature that makes values high is the degree to which they attempt to benefit everyone. Some examples of reliably higher values are patience, respect, tolerance, understanding, empathy, compassion, graciousness, courtesy, generosity, friendliness, love of nature, respect for our environment, tolerance for inherent differences and even for personal preferences, wellness practices, and achievement of meaningful goals. Higher values all encourage helping others, not as sacrifice, servitude, or even duty but in a spirit of loving generosity and graciousness. Believing in virtues is significant but living by them in all circumstances is what brings a noble personality into the social drama where the nobility can be appreciated and imitated.
The features that make values base are self-centeredness and lack of motive to benefit others. Pleasure seeking, power seeking, wealth seeking, popularity seeking, mocking, or bullying are base, selfish, and offensive.
Q: What can I do to foster my values in myself and in the world?
A: Late in his life, Jesus spoke to 24 of his closest followers and asked them, since they wanted to establish a new order on earth where all humanity would eventually live for the benefit of others, why did they not live that way and teach that way? He told them they were too uncertain and indefinite in their teaching and in their conduct. They were not living according to the truth they already knew. He told them to stop merely wishing and yearning for a better world and asking for miraculous delivery of such a world to them and to go forth bravely doing what would be the initiation of the new social and spiritual order they longed for.
Seems like wise advice for any faith group and for all values motivated individuals. Living loyally according to higher values is the consistent feature of spirituality of all sorts.
