Respect 225perfection through regular and repeated commitment and action. Both
value and virtue are two facets of the ethical moral person; one is to be
perceived, while the other is to be performed. We need to catch the val-
ue and at the same time we need to be trained in virtue in order to be
fully alive and flourishing.
17.3. Respect to be Cultivated by Everyone
Seeing things from the above perspective, the virtue of respect is to
be cultivated by everyone, for the simple reason that everything and
everyone in this universe is worthy of respect because of the fact that
they are existing independent of me. At the same time, the growing and
flourishing me depends heavily on them, and in my own humble way, I
too contribute to the wellbeing of all in the world. The virtue of respect
demands that people recognize others and things as they are and respond
to them as members of the interrelated covenant community. Everyone
is important and relevant in so far as each in one way or another con-
tributes to my existence and welfare, and I, as a part of the whole, be-
long to all others, which makes for the wholeness, fullness, and holiness.
It is a call to discern that I am because of others; “We are because you
are and since you are, definitely I am.” The Ubuntu philosophy as sum-
marized by Onyebuchi Eze explains it beautifully: “A person is a person
through other people.” Indian cultural ethos has been successfully
transmitting this great value through the popular adage, Vasudhaivaku-
tumbakam, “the world is one family.” It is the same truth which is un-
derlined by the Hebrew Scripture: “I will take you to be my people and I
will be your God” (Exodus 6:7). In the words of Saint Paul, the meta-
phor of the Mystical Body of Christ that “there are many parts, but one
body” (1 Corinthians 12:20) is a compelling and convincing statement
on universal community consciousness. Jesus, in his teaching on the
vine and the branches points to the truth of the branches abiding in the