Faith, Balance, and Endurance: Temperance Across Occupations

 

"soldier, athlete, farmer, and nurse" free AI image www.gemini.google.com

The wise man knows that he knows not anything.- G. K. Chesterton.

Perseverance is the currency of faith; difficulty often presents opportunities for faith, as Harvard professor Tyler VanderWeele emphasizes in his book A Theology of Health, which articulates the interconnectedness of wellness, illness, and spirituality (VanderWeel, 2024). What do being a soldier, an athlete, a farmer, and a caregiver have in common? Each faces uncertainty despite their preparation and commitment. A soldier may dedicate themselves to service and still not return home. An athlete can weight train, sleep, and diet relentlessly but never place first. Even the most diligent farmer cannot guarantee a harvest every season. Despite a caregiver's best efforts, it is often impossible to offer relief to those who are suffering. In each case, effort does not guarantee results, yet these archetypes persevere, and resilience and temperance are virtues necessary.

According to VanderWeele (2024), temperance is the practiced virtue of abstaining from excessive pleasure and resisting temptations. Aristotle described temperance as finding the mean—acting with balance rather than in extremes. I have written about that here. Practicing temperance helps us develop resilience, teaching us to persevere when things do not go our way. When faced with setbacks, do we seek solace in faith and our relationship with God, or do we turn to fleeting earthly comforts? VanderWeele (2020), in Religion and Human Flourishing, explains that flourishing involves achieving balance in all areas of life. From a Christian perspective, spiritual flourishing means maintaining a harmonious relationship with God, especially as we approach the final days of life.

References:

Chesterton, G. K. (1925). The Everlasting Man. https://ccel.org/

VanderWeele, T. J. (2020). Spiritual Well-Being and Human Flourishing. In A. B. Cohen, Religion and Human Flourishing: Ed. (pp. 43–54). Baylor University Press. https://hfh.fas.harvard.edu/religious-communities

VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). A Theology of Health: Wholeness and Human Flourishing. University of Notre Dame Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.129052