In this brief reflection, I sketch the simplest path to character growth I know. The goal: a strong, balanced character, centered in God. The recipe is wisely to combine spiritual awareness, including humility about our need to grow, with a down-to-earth realism about the facts of whatever situations in which he found himself.

I also note something like the same combination in spiritual leaders Tenzin Gyatso (the Dalai Lama, exiled from Tibet) and Desmond Tutu (who did so much for reconciliation in South Africa).

I comment on two beatitudes and on realizing that God gives the resulting character growth that comes from living supreme desire to do the will of God. That life yields joy.