Fanny Price part deux

OK, so I finished Mansfield Park the other day. I've decided that while she was somewhat annoying at first... She was the only one in the story with any true integrity or intuition. It is written in the book that Edmund was the one that helped to mold her mind (he is the token clergyman of this story), but she was naturally inclined to be good and virtuous evenso. Her somewhat oppressive upbringing kept her in humility and when the time was right, she proved her worth was far beyond that of those around her and what one might expect.

Virtue and integrity both seem to be dying attributes of "modern" society. Virtue and integrity do not seem to have much bearing in the progressive movement. Fanny is the epitome of conservative and she was the only one that had good sense. Somehow, I don't find that too surprising.

Fanny has turned out to be the kind of character we should all emulate. She's not as quick-witted as Lizzie, no. But she is kind, patient, long-suffering, loyal and true to herself and her values. That is true character.

I believe I had a recent post that discussed settling in marriage - settling for someone that we know we should not be with, but are so in love with being in love or the idea of being married that we allow ourselves this error. Fanny was faced with this very opportunity, but because she loved another, though at the time she felt it was hopeless, and because she was loyal to her character and the values she held dear, she persevered. We should all learn from her example... we should all hold out for the hero that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us. I'm not saying that there is only one person for every person, but there are definitely some people that the Lord would approve for us and some that he'd prefer we passed over - not because they aren't "good enough" but because they aren't as good FOR us as another may be.