98 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY 72 These would be different as well from Catholic conceptions of the spiritual disciplines, which may emphasize the Lord’s Supper, solidarity with the poor, forgiveness, and intercessory prayer (a very specific type of prayer). See, for example, Spohn’s Go and Do Likewise, 38. Spohn’s perspective reveals a more community-minded and egoless approach to the disciplines, informed also by his approach to virtue ethics. 73 Thomas Aquinas synthesized Aristotelian ethics with a Christian framework. Termed “Thomism,” this philosophical perspective provides the current framework for much of virtue ethics, albeit revised and expanded by contemporary philosophers and theologians. 74 Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 3rd ed. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007), 184. 75 Peterson, “Introduction,” in Habits in Mind, 7. 76 Spohn, Go and Do Likewise, 38. 77 Ibid., 57. 78 Ibid., 123-26. 79 Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, 53. 80 Ibid., 120. 81 Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 10. 82 Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, 138. 83 The idea of thriving or flourishing is, in fact, the primary goal of Positive Psychology, in which studies on resilience, psychological capital, authentic leadership, and many other related concepts are rooted. It is also important to note an even deeper conceptual link with an Aristotelian perspective, since the ideas of thriving and flourishing stem directly from the Aristotelian concept of Eudaimonia (happiness). This concept was the teleological goal for Aristotle’s discussions, seen as the end toward which mankind progressed or endured. This is not a general happiness marked by triviality or comfort. Rather, it is a wholeness, a flourishing in life as a man progresses in both virtue and status in life. Discussions on Eudaimonia are split between Aristotelian and Stoic perspectives, both of which have contributed to the current discussion on resilience. Aristotelians would see Eudaimonia as impacted by external forces such as bad luck or fate, while the Stoic perspective would assert that a man who is virtuous already has eudaimonia regardless of fortune.
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