Freedom for Excellence vs. Freedom of Indifference

Father Servais Pinackaers, O.P. came up with the above-mentioned dichotomy. One of these two phrases is actually a form of slavery to self; "Freedom of Indifference", Pinckaers notes, is the Freedom to do "What I want, when I want, how I want, when I want." This form of freedom is aimed inward. Even if that inward mindset has objective Good or Goods as the end, the risk of failing back into the ego of "this is best for me" is eerily close. The Freedom for Excellence, however, is always aimed at the classical Greek notion of being the best human a person can be. Freedom of Excellence requires removing those things that keep us from achieving daily objective Good. It points to the classical Cardinal Virtues that are available to humans to govern different portions of us: wisdom to govern the mind, courage to govern the heart, temperance to govern the appetites, and justice to govern our interactions with others. Indeed the Latin noun "Cardo" means "a door hinge" and through the centuries "cardinal" developed in English to mean "pivotal. Certainly, the Cardinal Virtues are pivotal in rightly governing our lives. But to allow the Cardinal virtues to govern within us, we must be free to pursue them. May the Lord of Lord and King of Kings bless you abundantly. P.S. Note the relation between the Latin word for "a hinge" and the modern medical field of Cardiology: our livelihood 110 percent hinges on the health our heart!