Daily Musings on the Marsh Muse

Since I don't have cute pix of children to post and with motivation from Elder Ballard's article in the Ensign last month about using the blogs for a worthwhile purpose,I'm going to share some things I am reading from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity right now. I hope everyone will ponder and share their additional ideas so that we can have more of a dialogue about his thoughts/insights; add a scripture or latter-day comment that supports or refutes- it's all in the spirit of pondering, meditating and personal growth. (Maybe it's just for you and me,Heidi)

I have been pondering the concept of virtue (let virtue garnish thy thoughts...) lately so I'll start with his comments on that since I never knew anything about what he shares.

The Cardinal Virtues (from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity)
According to (old writers)there are seven 'virtues'. Four of them are called 'Cardinal' virtues, and the remaining three are called 'Theological' virtues. The Cardinal ones are those which all civilized people recognize; the Theological are those which, as a rule, only Christians know about. The word Cardinal has nothing to do with the Cardinals in the Roman Church. It comes from a Latin word meaning 'the hinge of a door'. These were called 'cardinal' virtues because they are, as we should say, PIVOTAL.
They are PRUDENCE, TEMPERANCE, JUSTICE,and FORTITUDE.

PRUDENCE means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it. Nowadays most people hardly think of Prudence as one of the 'virtues'. In fact, because Christ said we only get into His world by being like children, many CHristians have the idea that, provided you are 'good', it does not maatter being a fool. But that is a misunderstanding. Paul points out, Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary. He told us to be not only 'as harmless as doves', but also 'as wise as serpents'. He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job.
It is of course quite true that God will not love you any less, or have less use for you, if you happen to have been born with a second-rate brain. He has room for people with very little sense, but He wants everyone to use what sense they have.
If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way around. Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened; one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself.