I've attended a few funerals, and I've seen a number of years come to an end. Before work this morning, I took my parents to the airport, and I was reminded anew that there's a limit to what you take with you. I imagine most of the travelers came for the New Year and are now headed home, jubilant perhaps at having spent New Years in Vegas. Big deal. I have spent six of them here now, and I don't have to fight traffic or crowds or overpay for a hotel in order to see the spectacular strip show of fireworks (which is pretty impressive usually). As each year ends and each person died, I look back at what they accomplish and what I have accomplished, and I'm tempted, based on the metrics measured by men, to count each year and my life a failure. I know better. Faith matters more than accomplishment.
The scriptures and more modern history are replete with examples of men of faith whose accomplishment was to be "of faith". Noah didn't manage to convince anyone who wasn't in his immediate family to repent and join him in the Ark. Abinadi may not have known whether he convinced any of the wicked priests to repent, and if he did, he might not have known that Alma survived. When Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were cast into the fire by Nebuchadnezzar, that act didn't accomplish anything, because we know that Babylon continued to increase in wickedness. When Wilfred Woodruff returned from a mission to Japan, John Taylor told him that "his success was that he continued in the absence of success". Sir Thomas Moore's faithfulness to God over earthly kings didn't dissuade King Henry from divorce or win his case, and he paid for it with his life. Countless times I have seen people do the right thing and have nothing to show for it. Faithfulness is their reward.
Ludvig von Mises wrote in Human Action that people choose virtue because they feel it is its own reward. In essence, we value virtue more than any advantage the alternatives afford. We learn this in our lives, as we rise with each new year and don't have to regret getting sauced or having random intercourse with strangers because we did things that were urgent and important with our lives. I know that there are examples in scripture of people who did accomplish a great deal. Moses brought millions of his people out of Egypt and Peter raised a man from the dead and Gideon defeated the Midianites with a handful of men. However, these people were ALSO people of faith, and without their faith, they would not have been able to accomplish what they did. After all, Naaman's servant points out that following the prophet's counsel is more important than the identify of the river in which we wash.
If accomplishments mattered more, then it wouldn't matter how a man achieved anything. We would celebrate Attila the Hun for his imperialism, Heinrich Himmler for his many murders, and whoever that guy is who has 37 children by at least a dozen different women. Money and fame and fortune and power would be the only thing venerable, and people who actually did play fairly would be written off as weak or posers. Our best doctors would be the best at cheating their way through medical school, our best soldiers would be the people who spent the most time playing World of Warcraft, and our best politicians would be the most popular people in the world. Achievement without virtue is just as evil as the evils decried by achievers in those who don't have much to show. Even moderation in excess is a sin.
When my paternal grandfather died a few years ago, I looked at the guests with some surprise. In attendance were captains of industry, commerce, governance, and religion, who all filed in the back of a chapel to pay silent respects to my grandfather. He was never a very wealthy man or an overly important one beyond the confines of our family, and when he died, he left little behind besides his family. All of these people came to commemorate his character, for they knew him by his reputation rather than by his socio-economic status. Although I didn't register it while he was alive, Grandpa John tried to instill in us a desire to be men of good character rather than men of good fortunes or good looks. He knew that rapport mattered more than reputation, that richness of spirit mattered more than the size of our bank accounts and that doing our work honorably mattered more than how the world chose to honor our work.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. A man may do many might works and have many wise words, but unless he does it with an eye single to the glory of God as much as possible, it availeth him nothing. Acts and accomplishments are wonderful, but we know a lot of people who believe that the ends justify the means and accomplish things in an immoral, unethical, or illegal manner. How can that be praiseworthy? How can that be faithfulness to oneself? I am living my life true to my principles, trusting in the God of Truth to reward me for principled piety.
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