Virtue:
Wisdom
Other names:
Definition:
The habit "which considers the highest causes... Wherefore it rightly judges all things and sets them in order, because there can be no perfect and universal judgment that is not based on the first causes" (II-II q 57 a2)
Advice:
Empirical Research:
A study by Hartmann (2001) found that a wide range of experiences, such as ongoing participation in life tasks, as well as ability to adjust to changing circumstances, to cope with stress and to come to terms with one's own choices, all contribute to the development of wisdom and perspective. Sternberg (1988) offers a program for students that focuses on reading classical works of literature and philosophy, discussion projects, and use of the Socratic method.
Case examples:
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Further reading:
Vices opposed:
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn his book, The Pope & the CEO, Andreas Widmer, a businessman and philanthropist and former Swiss Guard for John Paul II addresses both the difficulty and necessity of ordering our priorities in the light of the highest good. "Most of us at least try to balance our different roles and the priorities that accompany them, working hard to do what’s expected of us at work, home, and in our communities, making every effort to please our boss, our spouse, and our kids. But in trying to please everybody, we can end up feeling like we’re pleasing nobody."
For Widmer, the key to rightly ordering our priorities lies in the Christian understanding of vocation, placing our universal vocation to love and serve God and neighbor first, our vocation to married life, the priesthood or the consecrated life second, and our vocation to our own particular work or profession third, always in service to our universal vocation.
"While serving in the Swiss Guards, one of my friends who had been there much longer than I had told me a story about John Paul II’s first days as pope. On his first official day 'on the job,' with the weight of the world suddenly placed on his shoulders, John Paul made a decision. A friend and fellow Polish bishop was sick and he wanted to see him. But that’s not quite right. He didn’t just want to see him. He believed he was supposed to see him. He thought, on that day, at that moment that seeing his friend was the most important thing for him to do. So, despite the loud objections of his staff, he did just that. The world kept on turning. The most important needs were met, and the less important waited.
"A few days later, at a press conference for two thousand journalists, John Paul again went his own way. After offering the expected few comments, rather then leaving, he plunged into the crowd and began chatting with the press corps. Some poor monsignor, tasked with keeping the pope on schedule, tried to pull John Paul II away. But the pope waved him off and announced into a reporter’s camera, 'There are people here telling me it’s time to leave now. I’m the pope. I’ll leave when I want to leave.'
"That’s the difference a clear understanding of all three levels of vocation and their relationship to one another can make. John Paul considered first and foremost what God was asking of him, and then he did it. He put God first, his vocation to the priesthood second, and the many demands of the papal office third. He prayed, said the Mass, then did everything else. He did 'everything else' with the same spirit that he prayed and offered Mass. That is to say, he let the duties and values of his universal and primary vocation shape how he fulfilled his secondary vocation. His energies never lagged, his passion never waned." (Widmer, The Pope & the CEO, intro.)
Case Study
ReplyDeleteIn More Than a Hobby, Hobby Lobby founder David Green defends his practice of closing all stores on Sunday in order to provide his employees with a day of rest and time for personal, familial and spiritual refreshment. It is a matter of perspective, of exercising the wisdom to discern what is truly most important in our lives. Green's approach stands in sharp contrast to the stories he often hears from new job applicants. "It’s interesting to listen to some of these applicants. They tell about being lectured in the past: 'This company is your life. You take care of business here, and the business will take care of your family.' As a result, one of America’s major discounters is notorious for its dreadfully high divorce rate among managers.
"I used to work for a fellow like that. I can still hear him saying, 'David, your kids are going to grow up and leave you sooner or later. But you’ll always have your job here—as long as you give it 120 percent. Make sure this place is okay, and everything else will be okay.'
"Well, the facts are that nobody has a job at that company today;it’s out of business. And more tragically, the man who was giving me the big pitch ended up committing suicide.
"I tell everyone at Hobby Lobby that this company is not their priority in life. Their family is more important than this business. I’m not looking for people who will work seventy or eighty hours a week. If a manager tells me he’s so committed to running a perfect store that he’s putting in those kind of hours, I tell him to leave. Go somewhere else. I don’t care if I’m making all the money in the world from his store—if that’s what it takes, I’m not interested." (David Green, More Than a Hobby, ch. 10)