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August 30, 2020Fear is a common feeling I’ve noticed coming up in conversation these past few months. Fear about the pandemic, fear of sharing opinions, fear of losing income, fear of being judged, fear of the government, and the list goes on. Obviously, fear is not always a bad thing. Healthy amounts of fear keep us safe from hurting ourselves or others. We should be afraid of COVID-19 since it can do harm to our bodies, even kill us. We should be afraid when the government gets too “flexible” with the constitution and begins taking our rites away. It’s perfectly normal to be fearful of others and animals who can hurt us more than we can hurt them. It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit to fear the Lord. Fear plays an important role in our lives when it’s tempered with the virtues of courage and prudence.
When we think of the virtue of courage, we can instantly think of various heroes (real and fictional) and the courage they display. From Batman to Mother Theresa, we can think of many examples of courageous people. Courage helps to temper our fears. Fear of COVID-19 is good, because it will keep our health and safety, as well as others, on the front of our minds; however, too much fear leaves us prisoners in our own homes and prisoners to fear. Having courage to leave the house for the grocery store, to meet friends at the park, go out for dinner, etc. helps to not make us prisoners to our fear.
Prudence is the other important virtue, because it forces us to use our intellect/reason for an appropriate response of our fear and courage. Am I afraid of getting COVID-19? Yes. Does my courage get me out of the rectory and living my life? Yes. How do I balance the two? Prudence. Too much fear makes me a prisoner and takes away my freedom: I stay in the rectory at all times, I allow myself and those around me zero flexibility on the CDC recommended guidelines, my anxiety continues to climb, etc. At the same time, too much courage makes me dangerous to myself and others: I don’t ever wear my mask, I refuse to use hand sanitizer, I won’t change my personal hygiene routine, etc. Prudence helps to balance out our fears and courage. I have courage to leave my home, but I always have my mask on. When I see family and close friends, I’m able to give them a hug or shake their hand because I have hand sanitizer on me. Prudence allows me to be safe and live my life.
Prudence is a tremendous virtue that helps in all aspects of our lives. Prudence is especially helpful when in conversations with others. Three great prudent questions to ask before talking are: Does this need to be said? Does this need to be said by me? Does this need to be said by me right now? Until we answer “yes” to each of those three questions, it’s better not to say what we want to say. Prudence has helped me on many occasions, especially social media.
Fear is real and it’s a good feeling to be aware of within ourselves. Courage is a great virtue and should be lauded by those who exercise it. Both fear and courage help us to stay balanced; however, it’s the virtue of prudence that ultimately keeps us balanced, in check, and healthy. It should be noted that practicing prudence involves an active intellect and rational mind. Those who live in ignorance will find it very difficult to practice the virtue of prudence. Just an FYI.
