Cardinal Virtues
Last month we witnessed through every form of media the destruction of Northern Japan by earthquake and tsunami. Thousands of people missing, dead or displaced. Buildings, automobiles, airplanes, and ships all now just bits and pieces of debris strewn throughout the landscape.
Then a nuclear plant began to explode, then implode and collapse. Mixed information came to us regarding the nuclear concern. Was there a serious concern of nuclear radiation contamination? Nuclear fallout?
All this damage and destruction to one small nation, yet the people of this nation didn’t turn to looting and robbing. Instead, they returned to their neighborhood to clean up and rebuild. Standing side-by-side with their neighbor they figured out how to move forward.
In one instance a man returning to his home, the only one remaining in the area, sees that the entire main floor was destroyed by water damage; he ascended to the second floor. He came to realize that this floor, the 2nd floor, was exactly as he left it 72 hours earlier, clean and dry. A small smile found itself on his face. “If it wasn’t for a lack of electricity, I would stay here tonight”, he quipped. Returning downstairs he finds a fish still flopping on the floor of his bathroom. This day was the first day of “returning to normal”.
Many of the Japanese people lost everything; family members, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They lost their money, their homes, their cars, their bicycles, and their food. They lost their wedding rings, their children’s photos, their clothing. They lost pets, their stocks and bonds, their passports and wallets.
It is too difficult to express in words the images we saw on the television or on our computers. Words such as intense and horrific don’t even scratch the surface of the images. I couldn’t even imagine what those that survived would say. It must have been inexplicable and beyond understanding.
While thinking about the events of this mega-geological catastrophe and the response and resilience of the people of Japan I began to think about the 4 cardinal virtues: Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice:
Temperance is that due restraint upon our affections and passions, which renders the body tame and governable, and frees the mind from all the allurements of vice. Temperance is generally defined by control over excess, so that it has many such classes, such as abstinence, chastity, modesty, humility, self-regulation, and forgiveness and mercy; each of these involves restraining some impulse, such as sexual desire, vanity, or anger. Self-regulation is a major component of Temperance. Self-regulation, or self-control, is characterized as “regulating what one feels and does, being disciplined, and controlling one’s appetites and emotions.” It “refers to how a person exerts control over his or her own responses so as to pursue goals and live up to standards.” Its roots lie in its early use by Bandura, who theorized that individuals administer internal rewards and punishments for their behavior when exerting control over themselves. Self-regulation seems to be a part of how the magnanimous people of Japan controlled their emotions during such a trying period.
Fortitude is that noble and steady purpose of the mind, whereby we are enabled to undergo any pain, peril or danger, when the prudentially deemed expedient. Courage, bravery, will, and intrepidity, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk or danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. The Tao Te Ching states that courage is derived from love ("慈 loving 故 causes 能 ability 勇 brave") and explains: "One of courage, with audacity, will die. One of courage, but gentle, spares death. From these two kinds of courage arise harm and benefit." Courage (shauriya) and Patience (dhairya) appear as the first two of ten characteristics (lakshana) of dharma in the Hindu Manusmruti, besides forgiveness (kshama), tolerance (dama), honesty (asthaya), physical restraint (indriya nigraha), cleanliness (shouchya), perceptiveness (dhi), knowledge (vidhya), truthfulness (satya), and control of anger (akrodh). Islamic beliefs also present courage and self-control as a key factor in facing the Devil and in some cases Jihad to a lesser extent; many believe this because of the courage (through peace and patience) the Prophets of the past displayed against people who despised them for their beliefs.
Prudence teaches us to regulate our lives and actions agreeably to the dictates of reason, and is that habit on all things relative to our present as well as our future happiness. Prudence is the characteristic of exercising sound judgment in practical affairs. The word comes from Old French prudence (14th century), from Latin prudentia (foresight, sagacity), a contraction of providentia, foresight. It is often associated with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. In this case, the virtue is the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and place. Although prudence itself does not perform any actions, and is concerned solely with knowledge, all virtues had to be regulated by it. Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as opposed to reckless or cowardly, for instance, is an act of prudence, and for this reason it is classified as a cardinal virtue.
Justice is that standard, or boundary of right, which enables us to render unto every man his just due, without distinction. It is the moderation between selfishness and selflessness. The just man renders to each and all what is due to them, which are their moral and legal rights to do, possess, or exact something. This is equal insofar as each one receives what he is entitled to, but may be unequal insofar as different people may have different rights: two children have different rights from a certain adult if that adult is the parent of one of them and not of the other. It is closely related, in Christianity, to the practice of charity, because it regulates the relationships with others. It is a cardinal virtue, which is to say "pivotal" because it regulates all such relationships, and is sometimes deemed the most important of the cardinal virtues.
The people of Japan showed many traits of strength, resilience and stoicism last month and we can relate by the principles that we are taught throughout our childhood, religious classes, and through Masonry. It is hoped that none of us will every face the challenges of those that experienced the most recent disaster in Japan but in every tough and demanding position may we find ourselves reverting to the lessons of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice.
Then a nuclear plant began to explode, then implode and collapse. Mixed information came to us regarding the nuclear concern. Was there a serious concern of nuclear radiation contamination? Nuclear fallout?
All this damage and destruction to one small nation, yet the people of this nation didn’t turn to looting and robbing. Instead, they returned to their neighborhood to clean up and rebuild. Standing side-by-side with their neighbor they figured out how to move forward.
In one instance a man returning to his home, the only one remaining in the area, sees that the entire main floor was destroyed by water damage; he ascended to the second floor. He came to realize that this floor, the 2nd floor, was exactly as he left it 72 hours earlier, clean and dry. A small smile found itself on his face. “If it wasn’t for a lack of electricity, I would stay here tonight”, he quipped. Returning downstairs he finds a fish still flopping on the floor of his bathroom. This day was the first day of “returning to normal”.
Many of the Japanese people lost everything; family members, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They lost their money, their homes, their cars, their bicycles, and their food. They lost their wedding rings, their children’s photos, their clothing. They lost pets, their stocks and bonds, their passports and wallets.
It is too difficult to express in words the images we saw on the television or on our computers. Words such as intense and horrific don’t even scratch the surface of the images. I couldn’t even imagine what those that survived would say. It must have been inexplicable and beyond understanding.
While thinking about the events of this mega-geological catastrophe and the response and resilience of the people of Japan I began to think about the 4 cardinal virtues: Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice:
Temperance is that due restraint upon our affections and passions, which renders the body tame and governable, and frees the mind from all the allurements of vice. Temperance is generally defined by control over excess, so that it has many such classes, such as abstinence, chastity, modesty, humility, self-regulation, and forgiveness and mercy; each of these involves restraining some impulse, such as sexual desire, vanity, or anger. Self-regulation is a major component of Temperance. Self-regulation, or self-control, is characterized as “regulating what one feels and does, being disciplined, and controlling one’s appetites and emotions.” It “refers to how a person exerts control over his or her own responses so as to pursue goals and live up to standards.” Its roots lie in its early use by Bandura, who theorized that individuals administer internal rewards and punishments for their behavior when exerting control over themselves. Self-regulation seems to be a part of how the magnanimous people of Japan controlled their emotions during such a trying period.
Fortitude is that noble and steady purpose of the mind, whereby we are enabled to undergo any pain, peril or danger, when the prudentially deemed expedient. Courage, bravery, will, and intrepidity, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk or danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. The Tao Te Ching states that courage is derived from love ("慈 loving 故 causes 能 ability 勇 brave") and explains: "One of courage, with audacity, will die. One of courage, but gentle, spares death. From these two kinds of courage arise harm and benefit." Courage (shauriya) and Patience (dhairya) appear as the first two of ten characteristics (lakshana) of dharma in the Hindu Manusmruti, besides forgiveness (kshama), tolerance (dama), honesty (asthaya), physical restraint (indriya nigraha), cleanliness (shouchya), perceptiveness (dhi), knowledge (vidhya), truthfulness (satya), and control of anger (akrodh). Islamic beliefs also present courage and self-control as a key factor in facing the Devil and in some cases Jihad to a lesser extent; many believe this because of the courage (through peace and patience) the Prophets of the past displayed against people who despised them for their beliefs.
Prudence teaches us to regulate our lives and actions agreeably to the dictates of reason, and is that habit on all things relative to our present as well as our future happiness. Prudence is the characteristic of exercising sound judgment in practical affairs. The word comes from Old French prudence (14th century), from Latin prudentia (foresight, sagacity), a contraction of providentia, foresight. It is often associated with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. In this case, the virtue is the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and place. Although prudence itself does not perform any actions, and is concerned solely with knowledge, all virtues had to be regulated by it. Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as opposed to reckless or cowardly, for instance, is an act of prudence, and for this reason it is classified as a cardinal virtue.
Justice is that standard, or boundary of right, which enables us to render unto every man his just due, without distinction. It is the moderation between selfishness and selflessness. The just man renders to each and all what is due to them, which are their moral and legal rights to do, possess, or exact something. This is equal insofar as each one receives what he is entitled to, but may be unequal insofar as different people may have different rights: two children have different rights from a certain adult if that adult is the parent of one of them and not of the other. It is closely related, in Christianity, to the practice of charity, because it regulates the relationships with others. It is a cardinal virtue, which is to say "pivotal" because it regulates all such relationships, and is sometimes deemed the most important of the cardinal virtues.
The people of Japan showed many traits of strength, resilience and stoicism last month and we can relate by the principles that we are taught throughout our childhood, religious classes, and through Masonry. It is hoped that none of us will every face the challenges of those that experienced the most recent disaster in Japan but in every tough and demanding position may we find ourselves reverting to the lessons of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice.
posted by R.:W.:Brother Kleiner at 10:29 PM
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