Bear With Me

Felt like a random kind of day! haha

I'm baaaaaaack! Sorry I've been gone so long! Finals were last week, and a bunch of stuff has been going on since then. I'm super tired tonight, and don't have a direct topic, but I felt like I needed to update since I haven't in a while, so bear with me. ... Get it? Cuz there's a bear! ^ haha. I'm starting to get the hang of this whole blogging thing, though honestly I'm still torn about publicizing it. It feels a little embarrassing to self promote. Anyways... As I'm getting the hang of it I'm starting to see where I'm taking this blog in general. I'll let you try to figure that out on your own ;). All will become clear in time. Unless it doesn't. Which it might not. In which case you'll never know! haha. See? Babbling.

Anyways, there's nothing really that I'm passionate about writing tonight because I'm sooo tired. I'm not really sure why. But yet I trudge on, because I don't want to let all of you down. I guess I could do a short tidbit on that tonight. I'm not sure when I'll have time to write again because this weekend is going to be really busy, and I work now, so strap yourselves in and enjoy my ramblings.

Alright, here it goes, I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I'm really just here to let you know I haven't left! 

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Prudence

Now I'm not necessarily talking about the virtue, though that is essentially the same thing. Regardless of faith though, prudence is an important thing. It is, simply put, using common sense, and knowing when to speak and when to hold your tongue. This is an important life skill that can either simplify your life, or if you don't have it, make it infinitely more complicated. Friends of mine will know I learned the value of prudence my freshman year. I was very vocal about my political beliefs, and it got me in some trouble with a teacher, and other students. I felt like I needed to make my views clearly outlined and defend every attack on them explicitly. 

Not a smart move.

What resulted was a yearlong battle with students and teachers that ended up working out fine, but had many bumps in the road along the way. I'm glad I learned my lesson when I did though. Sometimes in life now I encounter views that I feel are blatantly wrong, and have things said to me that are just false. I'm able to hold my tongue with much effort now. See the thing is, we don't have to fight every battle that comes knocking on our door. Back to that HUMILITY thing. Remember? Sucking up our pride can save us sooo much trouble! Sure I might feel people are wrong, but if unnecessary conflict can be avoided, it should be.

That is not to say, however, that you should always hold your tongue. Like I said, Prudence is knowing when to speak. And sometimes you HAVE to speak out. Not just because of your personal beliefs, but because it's the truth. See, when I was defending my political views, that wasn't really a battle that had to be fought. I mean it was important to me, but political ideology differs widely from person to person, and everyone has a right to be that way. Moral issues are another thing entirely. Again, there are still many situations in which one should hold his tongue even in this topic, but I'll give a very extreme example to illustrate my point.

A girl you know is planning on having an abortion. You are Catholic (as is she), and you hold to the Church's teachings, so you believe that this is a grave evil. You are close enough to this girl that it is appropriate for you approach the subject with her. Then the only prudent course of action is to pray for her, and approach her about the grave immoral act she is about to commit. In this case, the prudent act is to talk to her. 

A less extreme case: it is prudent to speak up when you can AVOID conflict by talking. If speaking up clears things up for everyone, it is the best course to take.

Knowing when to say something or when not to is what prudence is all about (at least to me, though it is more than that in reality... another topic for another time). And it takes practice. And MANY mistakes haha. Believe me, I know. It also helps to pray for it. If you aren't a person of prayer, I encourage you to give it a try. But if you are, prayer can help enhance you in ways that will surprise you. 

Prudence takes a lot of time, effort, and patience to really develop. Keep at it and don't give up! 

So in closing, why Bear With Me?

2 reasons:

1: It's random, and I wanted ya'll to know I'm still here

2: Because prudence requires us to bear with others, even those we don't agree with, for the good of everyone.

So hold you tongue and bear with me! Haha. I'm not very good at prudence yet, but I'm  praying for it, and for you all too!

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"But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:39

I feel like this verse really sums up what I was rambling about tonight. If any of it doesn't make sense, forgive me, I'm falling asleep as I write this. I just really felt it was important to give you guys something to tide you over until next week.

Hope it was meaningful, praying for you all, and see you next week!

~Wanted~