Sermon: The Eight Virtues

[skew]

Late in the evening, the bells of the Church toll. As the Faithful arrive, Sister Ramona, Abbess of the Order of Decus, greets the congregation and beings a sermon.

"Eight guide you."

You all may have heard these words. You may have heard them spoken by the Seraph or a priest or even myself. But how many know what these words mean?

When I came to the First Province, I never thought these words would need to be explained. I assumed that everyone, everywhere said them. Yet, here, I find that these words do not hold the same meaning as they do elsewhere.

Here, in the First Province, we fight every single day... to eat, to grow, to build. Here, so close to the shores upon which the first Decusians landed, we need to spend more time working and less time reflecting upon the Virtues.

I want to make clear: Not knowing the Eight, their names, their meanings… This is forgivable. But we should all learn them. We should all know them. Life without Virtue is no life at all!

So, now... for some, I will be introducing these terms. For others, those Faithful who are already familiar, I offer this as a time to reflect upon the Eight.

The Eight Sacred Virtues of Decus are: Compassion, honesty, honor, humility, justice, sacrifice, spirituality, and Valor.

Compassion comes not just from something inside of us that wants to help others. Compassion is about the shared experience of us. The shared suffering of us all. Each of us has suffered. We all know how it feels. We are compelled to end this suffering.. And not just for ourselves! But for everyone around us. That is Compassion.

Now, Honesty is a simple one. Do not speak falsehoods, do not deceive, do not swindle. Our society is built upon our shared experience, and if we are not honest with one another then we shake the very foundation upon which this is all built.

Honor. Honor is about a person's character. It is just about being honest with others, it is about being honest with oneself! The honorable person speaks truth and holds themselves to it.

Humility comes from all of the above. Accepting who you are, accepting who others are, and moving forward without false pretension.

Justice... Justice is honesty and compassion in action and deed. Justice is ensuring that everyone gets what they need. Justice is, sometimes, donating food. Other times, it is ensuring a thief is punished for their actions.

Spirituality is, perhaps, the most difficult of the Eight to fully grasp. Is being here, in Church, listening to me "spirituality"? Well, yes, certainly. But more than simply acknowledging the powers outside of your own, spirituality is accepting the nature of humanity as a whole.

You see, we are all here, together, sharing this experience. We are all connected. We are all touched by something divine. We - Humanity - are those chosen to keep the Flame alive, and keep the darkness from retaking our world.

Finally, we arrive at Valor. Valor is often thought of as "courage" or "heroism". It is, of course, those things. But more than that... we must accept that Valor is *more* than simply charging into battle. Valor is saying "no" to a sinner. Valor is retreating, when the emotional turmoil of loss feels stronger than the pain of actually losing a battle. Valor is in both physical courage *and* moral courage.

Now, I know I went through those quickly... but I want to highlight the theme here.

We are all here TOGETHER. We live here, together. We flourish here, together. But just the same, we suffer here, together. We die here, together. The Sacred Eight are meant to highlight this reality: We are all sharing this world.

Those men and women sitting around you, they are part of this world. Part of this town. Part of this church. Part of this community... And part of YOU. So, children of Decus, I urge you all to start seeing the Eight in all you do.

See your neighbor, your ally, your friend... and even your enemy... as part of you. As part of humanity. As part of those that Decus came to, to save.