I swore when I was a kid that if I ever got old, I would never talk about “when I was a kid!” When I was a kid, I hated that kind of talk from my elders. I did not care how far they had to walk to school. It made no difference to me what the price of gas was or what the price of anything was. I still believe in that commitment not to talk about the days when I was a kid.
The only ones who might be remotely interested in the days when I was a kid are the other older people! And many of them don’t want to hear about the days when I was a kid. They prefer, instead, to talk about the days when they were a kid. And I still don’t care! To put it in context, most of the people I spend time with these days have lived more than half of their lives in this 21st century! That blows my mind, but they don’t care.
It means I have to be careful when I am in the classroom or the Student Union and not use references that make no sense to them. It does no good to talk about Kennedy or Reagan. The Civil Rights marches and the feminist movement might as well be medieval as from the 60s! But this sometimes presents me with a dilemma.
The dilemma is how to present what I consider older truths in the contemporary context when students and younger people might not even care. The problem appears in many guises, but I would like to deal with one particular problem. I will call this problem the problem of language. Let me illustrate it by describing a recent classroom experience.
I went to a class where the students were supposed to have a conversation about prudence. They were to read a chapter that I and my friend have written on prudence. I actually think it is one of the better chapters in the book. I am confident prudence is an important element in successful people’s lives and, certainly, for leaders. So I walked into the room with real optimism.
Soon it became apparent there was no warrant for my optimism! It was as if we had written that chapter in Russian! “So what is prudence,” I innocently asked? For a period of time, I thought a Quaker meeting for worship had begun---silence! “It’s confusing,” one of the bright students managed to utter at one point. My optimism was giving way to disappointment.
Is prudence an old-fashioned idea---actually archaic? Maybe my generation is the last generation to understand prudence---or the lack of prudence. I have been both in my life. There are times (and I still cringe) when my lack of prudence is appalling. I am surprised I did not kill myself with some of the stupid things I did. And there were times I managed to be pretty prudent and, actually, those times work out nicely.
I gave up on the word, prudence, as I scrambled to connect with students. I tried other words: common sense, practical wisdom, and foresight. They understood those words, but still it felt like I might be speaking Spanish. They knew some of the words, but they still could not translate.
Prudence is one of the classical virtues. It is touted by Aristotle, Plato and so many of the religious greats like Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides and a host of others. How could I get these babes of the 21st century on board with a classic truth? Certainly the word, prudence, is not sacred. But the deeper truth I hope they can learn and, even more importantly, learn to implement in their lives.
The deeper truth of prudence is to understand it as a key to wisdom. That is why God is rightly seen as a prudent God. God acts wisely in our world and with me and you. God is not capricious. God is not dangerous nor whimsical. Prudence keeps God and all of us from stupidity and wrong-headed blundering.
With prudence---wisdom--- we can emulate God’s model of action. Prudent action is the action taken that makes the best sense, given all the facts. Prudent action is based on looking ahead and behaving wisely given what you see. Prudent action is action that builds up situations instead of damaging them. Prudence is always grounded in an ethic of care.
God is not care-less and neither should we be careless. Students get this point. Every one of them knows what it is like to be careless! In fact, too many of them are living too much of their lives in the careless lane of life’s highway. Perhaps part of what makes prudence confusing is the fact that prudence can be the mirror revealing to us the errors of our way.
I am relieved that God is a prudent God. If God were simply a just God, I would be doomed! But God looks upon me with more than just eyes. God beholds me with a prudent eye. And prudently God usually opts to temper justice with some love and grace. And I thank God. Prudence may be an archaic word. But it is a stunningly contemporary reality. Thank God.
The only ones who might be remotely interested in the days when I was a kid are the other older people! And many of them don’t want to hear about the days when I was a kid. They prefer, instead, to talk about the days when they were a kid. And I still don’t care! To put it in context, most of the people I spend time with these days have lived more than half of their lives in this 21st century! That blows my mind, but they don’t care.
It means I have to be careful when I am in the classroom or the Student Union and not use references that make no sense to them. It does no good to talk about Kennedy or Reagan. The Civil Rights marches and the feminist movement might as well be medieval as from the 60s! But this sometimes presents me with a dilemma.
The dilemma is how to present what I consider older truths in the contemporary context when students and younger people might not even care. The problem appears in many guises, but I would like to deal with one particular problem. I will call this problem the problem of language. Let me illustrate it by describing a recent classroom experience.
I went to a class where the students were supposed to have a conversation about prudence. They were to read a chapter that I and my friend have written on prudence. I actually think it is one of the better chapters in the book. I am confident prudence is an important element in successful people’s lives and, certainly, for leaders. So I walked into the room with real optimism.
Soon it became apparent there was no warrant for my optimism! It was as if we had written that chapter in Russian! “So what is prudence,” I innocently asked? For a period of time, I thought a Quaker meeting for worship had begun---silence! “It’s confusing,” one of the bright students managed to utter at one point. My optimism was giving way to disappointment.
Is prudence an old-fashioned idea---actually archaic? Maybe my generation is the last generation to understand prudence---or the lack of prudence. I have been both in my life. There are times (and I still cringe) when my lack of prudence is appalling. I am surprised I did not kill myself with some of the stupid things I did. And there were times I managed to be pretty prudent and, actually, those times work out nicely.
I gave up on the word, prudence, as I scrambled to connect with students. I tried other words: common sense, practical wisdom, and foresight. They understood those words, but still it felt like I might be speaking Spanish. They knew some of the words, but they still could not translate.
Prudence is one of the classical virtues. It is touted by Aristotle, Plato and so many of the religious greats like Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides and a host of others. How could I get these babes of the 21st century on board with a classic truth? Certainly the word, prudence, is not sacred. But the deeper truth I hope they can learn and, even more importantly, learn to implement in their lives.
The deeper truth of prudence is to understand it as a key to wisdom. That is why God is rightly seen as a prudent God. God acts wisely in our world and with me and you. God is not capricious. God is not dangerous nor whimsical. Prudence keeps God and all of us from stupidity and wrong-headed blundering.
With prudence---wisdom--- we can emulate God’s model of action. Prudent action is the action taken that makes the best sense, given all the facts. Prudent action is based on looking ahead and behaving wisely given what you see. Prudent action is action that builds up situations instead of damaging them. Prudence is always grounded in an ethic of care.
God is not care-less and neither should we be careless. Students get this point. Every one of them knows what it is like to be careless! In fact, too many of them are living too much of their lives in the careless lane of life’s highway. Perhaps part of what makes prudence confusing is the fact that prudence can be the mirror revealing to us the errors of our way.
I am relieved that God is a prudent God. If God were simply a just God, I would be doomed! But God looks upon me with more than just eyes. God beholds me with a prudent eye. And prudently God usually opts to temper justice with some love and grace. And I thank God. Prudence may be an archaic word. But it is a stunningly contemporary reality. Thank God.
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