Seven and Seven?

I know that there are seven sins - lust, gluttony, envy, pride, wrath, sloth and greed. I think. I only remember them because of the movie Seven, and I only remember that movie because Brad Pitt starred in it. I have a vision of him holding some woman's head (his wife?) in his hands while her body was somewhere else on the premises. Now this movie is not to be confused with another movie starring Demi Moore called the Seventh Sign, which, in my junior year of high school inspired me to do a term paper on the Apocalypse. [I got an A but I fear that it was only because my teacher thought I was a freak for picking such a strange (different) topic. I think one of my best friends wrote about the McGyver series and another one picked a historical figure - Martin Luther King. She also got an A, but I'm pretty sure it was because I wrote it. To this day, you ask her who MLK is and she'd think it was the chemistry abbreviation for milk)].

Okay, so that's covered. The seven sins are blah, blah and blah. I've experienced minor doses of each - not enough to warrant a severed head, but I know what they feel like to an extent. In fact it is because of gluttony that I am awake at 2 in the morning with a Pepcid dissolving in my stomach. But are there virtues of which I am supposed to be aware? I mean, more than I can throw out there. Anyone? Feel free to comment back and just let me know if I missed any.

Faith. That's a virtue, right? Or in any case, it should be. I've definitely ridden in a car with faith. I was nervous that I was being driven down the wrong path at one point, said a little prayer and then was careening around bends, over hills, jumping speed bumps and rambling through muddy fields with this one. But, now I am on a smooth country road, holding hands with faith as I see slices of pink in the sky at dawn, and billowy clouds at dusk.

Hope. Not too long ago I was desperate to know what this meant. I was mad at faith - I had always defined hope as a virtue (?) for the weak because if you needed hope, then something was wrong. Oh, how terribly, terribly confused I was. There is a spiritual quote out there, something like, "struggles lead to perseverance, perseverance to hope, hope to character." Struggles, who wants 'em? I sure hope I don't have to face any struggles, and if I do, I sure hope there is something out there that can get me through those struggles and I hope He's reading this blog. I sure hope so.

Patience. I cannot wait to learn about that one!

Love. Ha. Ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha.

Courage. I see it every day. Young kids in Iraq. Parents who are struggling with no money, no sleep and colicky babies; friends who have lost or are losing a parent; mothers who are divorced and moving on; heroes that go into hospitals every day and save lives; blood donors, platelet donors, social workers, the unemployed that get up to search every day; my brother who works 500 miles away from his wife and child to work. How many others are out there? Millions more. The lion from the Wizard of Oz has nothing on them. I'm part of this crew too - among the norm of every day life.

Okay, so I have five that I can think of off the top of my head. Five. Five! The sins have the lead? Impossible. I need more. I'll keep thinking, but if anyone has an idea, just anonymously comment back, I'm curious. Curious? Is that one? I know it killed a cat or two, but... nah.