Every day is seeking to rise to the challenge, ‘neath the shadow of the mighty Rockies.
A fitting update for the fifth anniversary of my humble blog: I don’t hear it as much as I used to, but some have questions about the name “Mount Virtus”: Where does it come from? What is it supposed to connote?
Virtus is a Latin word that roughly translates “manly virtue” or “courage” or “strength in the face of adversity”. The motto of my alma mater is: Virtus tentamine gaudet, or “Manly virtue rises to the challenge”. It is homage to the twin pillars of Western Civilization: Jerusalem (the Judeo-Christian faith tradition) and Athens (the Greco-Roman republican ideal).
Mount is a play on words, acknowledging the grandeur of the Rockies that give character and beauty to my adopted state, and recognizing that this type of courage is a lofty aspiration.
Mount Virtus is a reminder that though I often fall short, by God’s grace I hope to keep my eyes focusing upward to a higher character, and ultimately to the Divine fountain of the purest virtues. Life is about something much bigger than myself. In daily personal struggles and temporal political battles, I cannot be reminded often enough.