And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
~ Micah 6:8

Recently, I find myself tiring a little more each day of visiting Facebook. It seems like every other post by people I know has become a political statement or rant or polemic.

Maybe I am insensitive.

Yes, there are great divides, great concerns, and a great unrest that is being talked about in our country. This nation’s new leader talks and acts a lot different than the last one. There is a lot of fear in the world these days, and certainly there is a lot of fear in America as well. But the act of living any life is not without risks. And it seems like quite a few people these days are just interested in being alarmed.

I think what I find most concerning, though, is what I hear behind all of the political posts. People are dominated by political fears, and not driven by personal priorities.

In America, we are- and have been- fortunate enough to have a say in the election of our leaders. Our country is democratic. We’re massively unique in the establishment and compositions of our governments. We, of all people among the nations, choose our national captain every four years. And we have three branches of government, structured and entwined to keep one another in check. We have a nation that is built to go long and strong- if, in Benjamin Franklin’s words, “if you can keep it.”

Philosopher Os Guinness is a guy who has thought long and hard about what liberty needs survive in a society, and in time his studies brought him to see “The Golden Triangle of Freedom”. Succinctly, each leg of his triangle depends on the two others to give a free nation strength, and the three legs are as follows:

1) Freedom requires character in its people
2) Character requires faith in its people.
3) Faith requires freedom in its people.

For liberty to survive in a democratic nation, private virtue must be a public interest, a public value- and private virtue is often a result of religious inspiration.

Free societies survive when free citizens do not live solely focused on the activities of the government. Free societies thrive when individuals subscribe to a commitment for common good, and when they accept a personal responsibility to be good neighbors and citizens. And that commitment for common good is easily strengthened when healthy faith is part of a society’s foundation.

Which means, in times of stress, free men and women take it upon themselves to work- and not whine- for change in their lives.

If you feel panicked at the lack of character in the world around you, practice virtue. Character is a personal, individual attribute that reflects courage and quality. Character, in short, expresses how you value others, and how you value yourself, and character will force you in your daily life to lift up the lives and world around you.

How do you become a citizen of character?

In this day of hard issues and big headlines, choose to chase solutions, and not sensationalists or scaremongers or scapegoats.

Society is built locally. Fight issues and injustices by volunteering for an organization or cause where you live. And of course, write your elected officials.

Instead of slamming your neighbors, serve them. Proactively. Proactivity trumps reactivity.

And giving and serving go a long way in challenging biases and prejudices within a community.

Character is something you and I can only develop within ourselves, by ourselves, one day at a time, one choice at a time. But character is best built in community, when we live and work with people of like-minded hearts and habits, truly interested in common goals for the common good.

And recovering a reverence of character within our national culture is crucial for the maintenance of vitality and freedom in our nation.

Which doesn’t have to begin with an Executive Order from the White House.

Rather, it best begins in the quiet commitment of a thousand single individuals to act for answers, instead of sitting passive, merely airing agitation and apprehension.

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Click here and click here for more on Os Guiness’ “Golden Triangle of Freedom”.

Os Guiness with Eric Mataxas, “A Free People’s Suicide”, Socrates in the City, September 13, 2012.