|
Iane Sastre, Seminarian Prudence
There is a Persian fable that tells a story about a young boy named Bardia. Bardia was visiting his grandparents in what now is the region of Qom in Iran; it is a region known, among other things, for its wonderful woods. The story tells that one day Bardia went out to explore the woods that spread behind his grandparents’ house. He was mindful, at first, to stay on the trail; but as he became more confident he was distracted and, of course, he got lost. He looked all around, but could not see the trail. He could, however, still hear sounds coming from his grandparents’ house. So he started walking toward the sounds; he took each step very carefully. He kept very attentive to the sounds coming from the house, and he slowly made his way out of the woods. He reached a grassy area and he could see the back of his grandparents’ house; he could even see his grandfather! All that separated him from home was about 10 feet of what looked like a clay and sand clearing. As he was ready to run to safety he heard his grandfather say Bardia wait! WAIT! That’s quicksand! Bardia waited as his grandfather slowly pulled the rope that sent the makeshift lift that would carry him to safety. Bardia had not yet learned that prudence must be a companion even when we see our way clear to our goal: even when we understand. Understanding is not enough. Understanding is a gift from God and as such it needs to be used along with wisdom and with prudence. Our Lord opened the mind of the disciples so that they could understand the scriptures; and He told them to wait. He gave them understanding, He told them what they had to do, but our Lord Jesus Christ knew that it was not enough. “Wait,” he said, “until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Because of our Lord’s ascension into heaven, we know that the disciples were to receive the clothing, the cover, the protection, and the direction of the Holy Spirit – a gift that we inherited. This power from on high is not a mighty arm that rules by force; it is a mighty arm that lifts us above the quicksand above our quick steps, our hurried steps that tend to send us running … sometimes even without being mindful of where – or even on whom – we step. Prudence is a gift that we tend to use when we are stepping on unfamiliar ground; but prudence as an expression of wisdom should be our constant companion. I once heard someone ask “How does one know when to use prudence?” As if there’s ever a time when we shouldn’t. Sometimes we think that prudence only slows our actions. But in reality, as an expression of wisdom, prudence will never make us wait when we need to act just as it will never have us act when we need to wait. Prudence doesn’t slow us down; on the contrary, prudence will have us act at exactly the right time. The prudence of wisdom, however, has this pesky habit of revealing things on a “need-to-know” basis; and that goes against our human grain. We tend to want to know the whole picture. Yet we know that we are incapable of such thing. Just before His ascension, our Lord told
the disciples to wait. In His words we have a reminder that our only real
resource is trust in God’s faithfulness and act in God’s wisdom;
understanding is not enough. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would be given a
spirit of wisdom and revelation and his words are still true for us:
|
|
