Habit

"Ethics is not about being clever in a crisis but about forming a character that does not realize it has been in a crisis until the ‘crisis’ is over." - Samuel Wells

"[Conventional ethics] is trying to make a better world without us needing to become better people. - Stanley Hauerwas

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Last summer, Michael and I listened to Malcolm Gladwell's excellent book, Outliers, over a couple of road trips. (It took us a long time to get through the book. We're very slow listeners.) Gladwell's book is about what makes some people outstanding in their fields. Among other factors was 10,000 hours practicing. The Beatles played crazy long hours in clubs in Germany. Bill Gates spent countless hours programming. Before they were ever successful or famous, they practiced for hours and hours and hours.

I like what Samuel Wells says about shaping character in people. He writes that traditional ethics focuses on the point of decision, the ethical quandary, the moral dilemma.  The character of the person making the decision doesn't matter; the "right" decision is defined independent of such a sketchy variable as a person's character.

Theological ethics, on the other hand, is all about shaping people first. People make lots of decisions every day, some big, some little. People shaped according to the pattern of the cross make those decisions according to the pattern of Scripture, often without even realizing they are doing so.

This is both challenging and reassuring. On the one hand, we're never off the hook, able to coast until we find ourselves in a crisis; rather, we must be faithful in the small things everyday. On the other hand, the crisis itself is not so daunting when we have already defined our values and ways of thinking about the world.

It is tempting in ethical discussions to focus on big questions like euthanasia, cloning, and war.  However, it is how we treat our families and friends that shapes how we treat our enemies.  It is how we spend our time that shapes how we view the gift of life. It is how we view our own and others' bodies that teaches us how to talk about cloning and abortion. It is how we eat our dinner that shapes our view of farming, sustainability, and good ecological practice. It is how we spend our money that defines our economy.

As Christians, we often focus on more traditional spiritual disciplines like Scripture reading and prayer. These practices instill the patterns of worship in our lives, but all of the decisions we make reflect our allegiance--to the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the world. Scripture reading and prayer help us to learn the values of the kingdom of God, but so does careful attention to the many other choices we make on a daily basis.

Michael Pollan talks about the benefits of eating local food, 

which is a great choice to make.