Structural Virtues Theory Reflection
What could frighten a man who comprehends that nothing in this life is his, not even himself? The answer is simply the furthering of misalignment between action and truth, dissonance guaranteed to quake the architecture of all virtues. Fear in such a soul is born of loss in unreconciled potential. When a man knows his self to be transient, yet still clings to illusions of permanence or ownership, he becomes a vessel for the sins of Cowardice and Absolutism, which demand a form of certainty, especially where none can exist in actual reality. The Fear can only be of the unwillingness to act in the face of such false Absolutism through Cowardice; a paralysis based in the idea that truth can be too dangerous or that righteousness cannot be achieved without belief in ownership. The one legitimate fear, however, is that God’s plan is not escalating as quickly as it could due to our own inaction and failures through this false Fear set against its opposite reasonable aspect: Spirit also called God’s Love, so that the reasons behind this inaction are resolvable and able to be influenced by achievable increases in perspective and goodness.
Loss Beyond Time
To lose time is to forfeit a currency that, in the eyes of the unbound soul, holds no actual intrinsic value in itself. The only value in time is for the potential of transformation within it. The man who understands that nothing is his, has already relinquished the most coveted possessions: materialistic identity, earthly purpose, and even the illusion of control. Yet, this, which would be considered a loss to most, is actually a gain. Through the lens of Justice, Courage, and Willpower; perseverance in ethical discernment then pivoting to God’s Love and reanalysis through it. Nothing is more valuable.
In Structural Virtues Theory (SVT), time is not a resource to be hoarded but the very momentary scaffolding for action. The man who comprehends his impermanence does not fear loss of material things. He sees physical decay as the necessary condition for Willpower’s reach into this and the coming generations. This final virtue attacks the communal Amnesis in others, as the sin capstone, by wielding Truth as a weapon against the forgetfulness and motivator toward Magnanimity (Awareness in Honesty), for a more virtuous future, in absence of selfish desires but in devotion to highest potential through God and His plans.
Right Action and Love as the Only Wealth
What gain is possible outside of right action and love? None. For the unbound soul, the only value worth pursuing is in greater alignment with Truth, the force that binds all virtues together, and as reflected by our best attempts at reason in discourse; internally and externally yet still paling in any comparison to God’s Discourse, which defines reality itself as willed into being by His Word. In SVT, Courage (Perseverance aspect under Spirit [God’s Love] moment) and Justice (Perseverance aspect under Morality moment) are not separate pursuits as commonly figured but interwoven paths, with any suggestion otherwise being candied lies.
The man who knows he owns nothing, must necessarily act not for himself, but through others and for others, embodying the truer form of Loyalty: a devotion in service to all over any personal glory. This is where Willpower becomes the final step in overcoming Amnesis: a force that ensures the lessons of the past are not forgotten, but carried forward as foundations for future growth across the generations. SVT thus bridges the generational gaps and provides a means of transference. The more advanced in the virtues does best for others by helping them advance in those first steps toward Honesty, most especially against Amnesis with Magnanimity against Disdain and so on.
Thus fear persists. It is not of death or decay, but of disconnection, which manifests when one rejects our basic connections. This is why the Spirit aspect (again, man’s experience of God’s Love) is opposite the Fear aspect. The only legitimate fear is of separation from God’s Love, which is to say not replicating it the best way we are capable. This fear is of any illusions that the self can exist outside God’s plans. It upholds the necessity of action in service to all in greater goodness. The man who comprehends his impermanence and the depths of his imperfection fears the failure to act to help others, and the inability to confront the lies creating unnecessary separation more so, since it can easily hide this failure to act by distancing us from the consequences.
Reckoning of Willpower
To overcome this fear is not to seek ownership but to fully reclaim purpose and destroy the final yet most inwardly foundational sin of Cowardice. The unbound soul must choose: to cling to the illusion of separation or act with the clarity of a man who knows that his only true wealth is in this basic alignment of action with Truth. This choice is both communal and personal. Justice requires the cultivation of Ethics, which demands that we recognise our responsibilities. The unbound man cannot act to possess anything he knows can never actually be his, but to serve only. In absence of self through its death to the world, there exists the deeper identity: that of the child of God, bound by Love and duty to all; the worst enemy to lies and to the father of lies ruling the kingdom of Materiality.
What could frighten a man who knows nothing is his? Only the confused, slothful, and conceited lies in the Material, as framework, which whispers that action is unnecessary and that truth is too dangerous to pursue. Yet in this lies the greater danger of missing out on the most opportunity for growth: to embrace action founded in the virtues of Courage, Justice, and Willpower as the means to transcend our illusion of separation. The gain beyond self is not found in possession but in action and the unyielding commitment to right deeds, the illusion of self outside God’s Love being nothing more than a momentary shadow against the light of Truth. In this way, the unbound soul becomes a vessel for the highest form of Love seeking only to serve all, as God does.