I don’t know how many times I have read the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs. I stared at the words and one word popped into consciousness—prudence. Why have I not pondered that word before?
The associated thought was the song from the 1968 Beatles “White Album” written by John Lennon to Prudence Farrow, the sister of actress Mia Farrow—Dear Prudence.
There was a time when the fashion was to name girls after positive character traits—Hope, Grace, and yes, Prudence.
But what is prudence? Why should Wisdom, the narrator of the Proverbs, emphasize it?
Prudence is a discipline of oneself, a behavior of minimizing or avoiding risk, making good and careful decisions.
Pause here and reflect on all the hasty and ill-taken decisions taken. They come flooding into my consciousness.
Just as we need to count to ten (or count to ten ten times) before replying to certain statements, a pause before making a final decision on a purchase or a course of action is also, well, prudent.
A person even into their 20s who rush into decisions would look at prudence as crimping their freedom of action. For those of us who have been burned by bad decisions, we have learned prudence. Rushing to decision—or when someone is pressuring us to rush into a decision—usually turns out for the worse.
Prudence. Yes, a worthy character trait to infuse into our lives.
Faith Venture 
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