Practicing Virtue 

   There are seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth.  There are seven spiritual virtues: humility, charity, chastity, gratitude, temperance, patience, and diligence.

   The deadly sins seem to come naturally, we see them everywhere we look in the world.  Pride, in my opinion, is the springboard for most all sin, including the deadly ones.  From our pride the others seem to easily follow.

   The virtues, on the other hand, take work.  They don’t come naturally; they have to be sought through prayer.  Without the grace of God there is little hope of become virtuous in this sinful world.  Just as I believe pride is the trigger for most of the deadly sins, I believe that humility is what encourages all the virtues.  If we practice humility, the rest will likely follow.

   But we must practice the virtues if we are to live them.  Musicians practice for hours on end to perfect their ability.  Eventually, the notes and the chords become second nature, muscle memory rather than conscious thought allow them to slide easily through the musical landscape.

   In the same way the virtues become an integral part of our being as we continue to incorporate them in our daily life.  We no longer have to struggle in our humility, we become what we have practiced.

   If we are to enter God's kingdom, we must seek to become virtuous.  We must pray for the grace of God to make us so.  But we must also practice what we wish to become.