Our pastor recently challenged us to implement four lifestyle changes over 6 weeks in the hope that they would become habits. The behaviors he optimistically targeted were to 1) engage in 30 minutes of aerobic activity three times a week; 2) implement a God-honoring spending plan that begins with giving; 3) replace one evening a week of watching television with one evening of reading a book; and 4) read a chapter of Scripture and journal our prayers 5 days a week. Reading this book is our compliance with the third requirement and has proven an entertaining, stimulating, provocative, and valuable exercise.
Dr. Bryan is the Heyward Gibbs Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the University of South Carolina. He readily admits that he is “writing well outside [his] own areas of certified expertise, which are internal medicine and infectious diseases.” But it is evident that the volume is authored by one who has spent a lifetime reading and implementing classical thought, literature, art, and music into his lifestyle.
Dr. Bryan's book advances the thesis “that becoming a good person begins with virtues” and gains its structure from chapters dedicated to illuminating the four cardinal virtues of prudence (wisdom), justice, temperance, and fortitude (courage) and the three transcendent virtues of faith, hope, and love (charity). Beginning with a basic tribute to the ancient philosophical discussions of the seven virtues, Dr. Bryan states, “My overarching purpose is to offer a framework upon which readers can construct their own commentaries.” This he does eloquently. For Goodness Sake should not be devoured as a single meal and quickly disposed of. It is a feast to be enjoyed one course at a time, fully savored, and slowly digested.
For each of the seven virtues, the author provides definitions of the term; examples from history, literature, the arts, and life; quotations and allusions from the Bible, various other religious documents, philosophy, psychology, and famous personalities; anecdotal vignettes of known and unknown heroes of virtue; case studies; and gentle challenges to readers to examine their own code of virtuous conduct. He introduces us to universal principles, historic characters, and personal acquaintances to illustrate the application of the virtues to real-life situations. His stories make the virtues come alive. His nonprofessional, personal photographs add a sense of genuineness to the presentation. While generating a feel of homespun wisdom, Dr. Bryan's thoughts run deep with unusual insight.
The book reads almost like a devotional from which one can take a few sparkling nuggets, digest their impact, and return later for more. At one point, Dr. Bryan expresses that he will “especially regret making so many self-disclosures,” but we found these admissions endearing. One can imagine how grateful Dr. Bryan's colleagues, patients, friends, and family must be to see this philosophical and transparent side of a man whom they admire as a practicing physician. It is easy to come away from reading this book with the impression that there is more to Dr. Bryan than meets the eye and that one's life would be greatly enhanced by spending time listening to his poignant posits. His thoughts are provocative and inspirational rather than didactic which, given his admitted lack of credentials in the fields of psychology, philosophy, and theology, shows great wisdom.
Dr. Bryan makes us wish he were our neighbor. His stories, especially those that expose his own journey of developing the seven virtues, reveal a man of character and human kindness. He hopes for a better world than the present and, believing in the power of a positive example, challenges readers to practice the goodness they would hope for others to practice.
The author approaches his subject from a primarily Western, broadly humanistic, and inoffensively Christian perspective. For example, his definitions of faith, hope, and love are more socially nuanced than biblical. Biblical faith focuses specifically on the Creator God, Israel's Covenant Lord, and Jesus as Savior. Bryan distinguishes “faith” from belief, which is less tolerant, and encourages a faith that encompasses not only “ultimate concerns” but also the “preliminary concerns” of human relationships. Biblical hope anticipates certainty, while the author adopts the more common understanding of “confidence.” Love is treated in terms of “brotherly love” more than the sacrificial, Christlike love demanded by the New Testament epistles. Although a Christian gentleman, Dr. Bryan recognizes the universality of the virtues he promotes. A particular strength of this text is that the author refuses the usual bisection of the spiritual and the physical. The whole person receives the author's attention. His references to other religious perspectives prove respectful, positive, and inclusive. His desire is not to promote his own faith commitments but to acknowledge the breadth of expression of the virtues and the necessity of applying them for the betterment of both the individual and the community. Typical of the author's practical application of the principles he promotes is his “Love Behind the Steering Wheel” ideology on page 203. The last entry encourages the reader to “Carry in your glove compartment at all times one or more booklets of Wendy's or McDonald's gift certificates, to be used at your discretion when you see someone at an intersection holding up a sign that reads ‘Need money for food.”
While readers are constantly encouraged to reflect for themselves, the author occasionally expresses his opinion. He finds that each of the virtues is deficient in the world today, especially in the USA. His evidence is strong. For example, noting the lack of temperance in the American culture, the author states, “We constitute 5% of the world's population but use 25% of its oil (of which 60% is at present imported) and generate 25% of its waste. We also, by one estimate, generate 50% of the world's spending on arms.” Dr. Bryan unflinchingly proposes how the virtues might well be applied to the ethical and moral issues of our day. One would expect, and indeed finds, several references to the lack of peace throughout. The “Just War Theory” encourages readers to think about the value of justice and the lack of that virtue in the world's affairs. Similar “prods” incrementally reveal the good physician's opinion of personal and political policy in our times.
The author anticipates readers' continuing engagement with virtue theory by his useful and comprehensive appendix, bibliography, endnotes, and index. The appendix summarizes the history of virtue theory from Homer in the ninth century BCE through contemporary philosophers and psychologists. The extensive, nearly exhaustive, bibliography divides the resources into general and specific categories, with special attention given to each of the seven virtues. The endnotes direct readers into the literature rather than developing arguments. The index connects readers to the major ideas, texts, and authors addressed throughout the discourse, allowing efficient recall when desired.
Locating a copy of this book might prove challenging but well worth the effort. It is self-published and available only from the Trinity Cathedral Shoppe, which is the bookstore of the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina. Order For Goodness Sake by calling the bookstore at 803-771-7300 or by e-mailing bookstore@trinitysc.org.