As I went on and on about the work I was doing on my truck my patient friend finally interrupted me and said, “So I guess this is your vice these days.” I volleyed back the well worn response without any forethought, “Beats the alternatives!”
The origin of the word vice comes from the Latin vitium, meaning fault, defect, or failing. By the time the word was adopted into the English language around the 14th century vice had expanded to a bad habit or moral fault.
Contemporary concept and vernacular lean either toward things than are deemed potentially bad for you like smoking, drinking, donuts or your less than healthy food choice. Yet as witnessed by my friend’s comment, it seems it can be anything we spend a lot of time doing.
The watering down, however, of our understanding of the core challenge of vices can quickly digress into rationalizing when there are in fact real impact on our lives and maybe even more importantly on others.
The Desert Fathers describe the eight evil thoughts, which later Pope Gregory I framed what we know as the seven deadly sins: pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. Thomas Aquinas in his seminal work, Summa Theologiae, referred to them as ‘capital vices’ (Latin caput, meaning ‘head’) – the source from which all other sins flow. And Augustine famously described vice as ‘disordered love’.
Vice is the betrayal of our better selves. While often providing immediate satisfaction and can be socially rewarding, over time it can move us further into unhealthy behavior and corporately can corrupt and fracture an entire community.
The antithesis of vice is virtue. The word virtue comes from the Latin virtus, which means strength, courage, excellence, or moral goodness. Aquinas in Summa Theologiae articulates this way, “Virtue is a good habit bearing on action, by which one acts rightly and with constancy.”
In contrast to the manifestation of vice, virtue aligns with what Paul writes to the faith community in Galatia, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Undoubtedly a virtuous life is aspirational. Which is why I particularly appreciate Aquinas’ perspective that it is really about establishing “good habits bearing action”. It is not merely about following rules or avoiding wrongdoing. It is about cultivating habits that align our actions to transcend superficial self-interest to building health for all.
Is my love for working on my truck a vice…all depends on the habits it is manifesting.
“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.” Plato