Reformation of Manners

"God has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the reformation of manners." The words of William Wilberforce, 1787. Today in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Lillie Estes, a community strategist, writes "A treatise on why poverty has not been eliminated." She states, "Poverty exists because opportunities are missed or denied. When opportunities are missed,it usually happens because of individual shortcomings and/or failures...Today's economy affords us the opportunity to re-do our strategy, especially when seeking to build new communities or tranform old ones. At the foundation of that process is education. Tied intrinsically to all of that are our values, our standards, our culture, our housing and our economy... education is the new global currency... The most important thing that we can do going forward is NOT to continue to make the same mistakes of the past. We must commit sincerely to hear and listen to all voices in the room...We can do this, Richmond region. All we need is the relevant experience in the room." Lillie, I could not agree with you more. History shows us the way. Wilberforce worked from 1787-1833 when England abolished slavery within 3 days of his death. He realized that to end slavery -moral, political and religious reform was necessary. The decay of both public and private virtue in England laid the groundwork to the American Revolution and the need for Patrick Henry, here at St. Johns Church to proclaim "Give me Liberty or give me Death." Eric Metaxas stated: "What Wilberforce vanquished was something even worse than slavery...He vanquished the very mind-set that made slavery acceptable and allowed it to survive and thrive for millennia." The original Webster's dictionary defines manners-behavior;conduct;course of life;in a moral sense. Wilberforce used manners to encourage social conscience. Good manners therefore bring the virtues of charity and civility. So let's have a change of mind-set and manners right here in Richmond. Business leaders, politicians, lawyers, bankers and families- how can any ills in society be addressed when we don't sit down to the dinner table and reflect on the day? More to come. And Lillie, I hope to have the opportunity to meet you.