“The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.” – Aristotle
Words tend to lose their meaning over time. When Donald Trump describes himself as “hugely successful,” I walk away shaking my head muttering, “not by my definition.”
So I’ve been reminded that the word virtue has been redefined for me in sobriety.
There was a sobriety meeting at the Washington State Prison at Walla Walla. The meeting brought together newly arrived felons, all serving long sentences, with a group of lifers who were among the toughest guys in the prison. This had to be, in the eyes of many, the most unvirtuous group of men imaginable.
The old-timers were let by Bob D. He had led a drug syndicate in the Yakima Valley and his gang was known for its extraordinary brutality. Bob had been sentenced to life plus 300 years for murder.
Bob was assured of dying in prison.
This group of old-timers led by Bob, aside from being bad-asses of the first order, distinguished themselves in another way: they were each sober.
That means they had elected to do sober hard time.
The penitentiary decided what better way to orient the next generation of prisoners than through the experienced eyes of other lifers.
Bob demonstrated the meaning of a number of concepts – while living in prison:
- How to live and let live in a world of criminals
- How to live one day at a time when doing life plus 300 years
- How to take it easy in a prison lock down
- How to understand this too shall pass when your buddy was stabbed
Bob never got religion in the sense that we use the term religion.
- He didn’t quote scripture
- He didn’t become a prison minister
- He wasn’t a follower of this one or that one.
Bob, having found sobriety, decided to live his life entirely from a sober perspective
- His eyes were sober
- His words were sober
- His mind was sober
- His actions were sober
What he saw through not dulling his senses to life, reality, and pain, was a tolerable life that could be freely lived in what appeared to be intolerable circumstances.
Bob and his crew of lifers showed that virtue is often found on the other side of vice, for the path from one to the other often illustrates the spiritual path available to we humans.
I would match Bob D’s virtue to Donald Trump’s success anytime.
Just a thought…
Pat
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