Nullum numen habes si sit prudentia.
– Juvenal
(One has no protecting power save prudence.)
What’s with all the qualifiers?
Human, Not Theological
Our first three virtues were theological virtues: love, hope, and faith are all divine, relating directly to God. Meanwhile, all human virtues are based on the theological virtues – distilled from them, if you will – and are therefore indirect links to God.
Regardless of the nature of the virtue, it helps us pursue God by arming us with good habits and dispositions. Human virtues are “perfections” of the mind. These virtues help us to govern ourselves, our passions, and our conduct reasonably and faithfully. The human virtues are the human side of the virtue bridge, connecting us to the divine virtues and thus to God.
A bridge has two sides.
– Elsa, Frozen II
Like the theological virtues, we strengthen our “virtue muscles” by exercising human virtues; unlike the theological virtues, human virtues are not a direct gift from God through Grace. In contrast, human virtues are an outgrowth of habit. However, human virtues can take on supernatural nature via sanctifying grace, granting it a dual (natural and supernatural) nature.
Cardinal
The cardinal virtues are special human virtues. The word “cardinal” means “of the greatest importance; fundamental.” It comes from the Latin “cardo” which means “hinge.” The cardinal virtues are fundamental in that all other human virtues hinge on them; they are pivotal because all other human virtues are derived from them.
What is Prudence?
Prudence – the quality of being prudent; cautiousness.
– Oxford dictionary, prudence and prudent
Prudent – acting with or showing care and thought for the future
Something that irritates me: dictionaries defining terms using their base word. If we understood the base word, we’d probably surmise the definition of the word itself. As circular logic is frustrating, I included both the definitions for prudence and prudent so we’re not spinning in a theoretical hamster wheel. (And this is common practice; I checked several other dictionaries, all of which used prudent in the definition.) I digress.
Basically, prudence is planning ahead: rather than indulging in the immediate, prudence weighs the costs relative to the benefits before making a decision on how to move forward. Maybe it’s all benefits and it’s a go-go-go; maybe there’s a mix and it’s a difficult decision; maybe there are a whole lotta negatives and the only benefit is the indulgence itself. Prudence is looking at the cost-benefit analysis and making the best decision with the facts at hand.
Prudence means we are not controlled by our emotions.
– Father Ben Bradshaw
With prudence, similar to sensing which decisions are better or worse for us to make, we recognize good and evil for what each is, and we make decisions based on all of the available information. It’s not excluding emotion, rather it includes it as a piece of information amongst all the rest. Whether a certain decision will make you happy in the short term is a factor, but so is whether you’ll likely regret the decision tomorrow.
Benefit: mad props. Cost: likely hypothermia.
Prudence Follows Priorities
Maybe your top priority is to provide for your family; maybe you don’t have anyone to provide for and instead you’re focused on advancing in your career; or maybe you’re a retired empty-nester whose pride and joy is a local charity you volunteer at. Whatever your priorities, prudence helps make the best of any decision.
If you’re looking to rocket to the top of your career, it might mean taking a job halfway across the continent or even on the other side of the planet. Maybe that will take you away from everything you know and everyone you love, but you know you want to take the position for the growth opportunities. It may mean delaying progress toward that goal of sailing across the globe because there’s nowhere to practice in the new locale, but you’re willing to sacrifice that dream for this one.
In contrast, if your growing family is your top priority, taking that position may be imprudent because it will disrupt your family. Or perhaps it would take you away from your parents when it’s critical for you to be nearby. Priorities are different for different people, and they change over time as well.
When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to molest [the apostles] and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycao′nia, and to the surrounding country; and there they preached the gospel.
– Acts 14:5-7
The apostles weren’t afraid of dying for the gospel; most of them were martyred, and Paul even wrote he knew his death was imminent because of his preaching in one of his letters encouraging to press on in the faith. In this passage, the apostles fled because they still had work to do, and they were prudent to see it done. Later, they didn’t flee, standing up for Jesus even when they knew it would cost them their lives: it was time to pass the torch. When they prepared the next generation to continue the work of spreading the Good News, the only thing left to do to complete their testimony was committing their deaths to the gospel through martyrdom.
Summary
Prudence is reasoning out a plan in accordance with priorities for the future. It’s using right reasoning and proper judgment to decide the next move and anticipating the moves thereafter. Prudence is doing the right thing in the short term to benefit the long term.
What do you think? What’s your experience exercising prudence? How do you handle making difficult decisions? I’m eager to read your advice in the comments!
Prudence is the virtue by which we discern what is proper to do under various circumstances in time and place.
– John Milton
