Yesterday, in the House of Commons, CharlesKennedy’s parliamentary colleagues gave movingtributes to his life. There is never a rush, of course,to speak ill of the dead, but these tributes had theclear ring of sincerity. David Cameron said his“character and courage inspired us all”, and NickClegg that he always put people before politics. Outside the commons, colleagues and friendshave spoken repeatedly of Kennedy’s compassion, decency, and principled nature as well asof his ongoing battle with human frailty in the form of alcoholism.

　　It seems Charles Kennedy displayed what the New York Times Columnist David Brooks wouldcall “eulogy virtues”. In his most recent book “The Road to Character”, Brooks contrastseulogy virtues like kindness, faithfulness and humility with what he calls resume virtues -the kind of things we put on our CV. He’s convinced that both eulogy virtues and resumevirtues take work to develop, and is worried that western society pushes us to put our effortsinto the ones that will help improve our careers, not our characters.

　　It's the age old question- what makes a good life? How do we go deeper amongst the clamourof a culture that monetises status anxiety and defines us by what earn, own or look like?

　　David Brook’s call for us to do the hard work of developing character, to cultivate self-restraint and self-suspicion in the age of the selfie stick, isn't really controversial. It'sobvious, when we stop to think about it, that the real legacies of our lives aren’t job titles,twitter followers or cellulite free thighs. But how do we develop the eulogy virtues, when thegravitational pull of the self is so strong?

　　Christians would be the first to acknowledge that these virtues don't come naturally. Thechurch’s hunch is that change happens through vulnerable, committed relationships. Toovercome the tyrant self we must confess our frailty and darkest tendencies - first to God,and then to others.

　　Behavioural science is beginning to add evidence to what religions have long understood -virtue develops best in relational communities. Not short term communities of self interestmade up of “people like us”, but awkward, diverse, grace filled communities, established forthe long term. The New Testament encourages Christians to be part of communities like these,to encourage one another, bear with each other and create space for the hard conversations.To keep reminding each other of the virtues that matter and the things that last. These kind ofcommunities aren't of course unique to Christianity, and they are often far from perfect, but ifwe want to be remembered not for our fleeting achievements but our depth of character, theymight be the best hope we have.

　　1.moving adj. 感人的

　　It is very moving to see how much strangers cancare for each other...

　　看到陌生人之间这般彼此关照，实在令人感动。

　　2.inspire vt. 鼓舞

　　These herbs will inspire you to try out all sorts of exotic-flavoured dishes!

　　这些香草会激发你去品尝各种异国风味的菜肴!

　　3.repeatedly adv.反复地，重复地

　　A list of items is repeatedly flashed up on the screen.

　　一个选项列表反复出现在屏幕上。

　　4.ongoing adj.不间断的，进行的

　　There is an ongoing debate on the issue.

　　对此问题的争论一直没有间断过。

　　5.convince vt.使相信，说服

　　I'm not going to believe it myself, never mind convince anyone else.

　　我自己都不会相信，更别提说服别人了。

　　6.clamour n. 喧哗声，喧闹

　　She could hear a clamour in the road outside.

　　她能听得见外面路上的吵闹声。

　　7.acknowledge vt.承认

　　You have to acknowledge that we live in a racist society.

　　你得承认我们生活在一个有种族偏见的社会中。

　　8.fleeting adj. 疾驰的，飞逝的;短暂的

　　The world is like a fleeting show.

　　人世如白驹过隙。

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