Thursday, December 17, 2015

Benjamin Franklin and His Attempt at Moral Perfection



“It was about this time I conceived a bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.  I wished to live without committing any fault at any time.  I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into.  As I knew, or thought I knew what was right or wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other.  But I soon found out that I had undertaken a task more difficult than I could imagine.  While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another. 

Habit took the advantage of inattention, inclination was sometimes too strong for reason.  I concluded at length that the mere speculative conviction, that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping.  And that contrary habits must be broken and good ones acquired and established before we can have any dependence on a steady uniform rectitude of conduct.  For this purpose I then contrived the following method…” (An Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin)

One of the free aps available for a smart phone is “LibriVox”, which provides audio books read by volunteers as a service to LibriVox users.  Most of the free books are old, available through the public domain.  My son Paul directed me to LibriVox over Thanksgiving and I set out to download a few books including An Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin quoted above.

Ben Franklin was not a believer by the standard of believers.  Ben Franklin believed in God, but did not belong to a denomination and disdained the “dogma” he found in the few churches he attended.  Nevertheless, he believed in God and even proposed a statement of faith, which he thought could be universally adopted by all denominations of the Christian faith.

“There is one God Who made all things.  He governs the world by His providence.  He ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving, but the most acceptable service of God is doing good to our fellow man.  The soul is immortal and God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or hereafter.” 

Although not a believer, Franklin espoused many of the principles of belief, including the certainty that God will reward virtue and punishment vice.  To this end, Franklin thought it was beneficial to pursue virtue and that moral perfection was possible in his own life.

Franklin quickly found out that intellectual reasoning about moral perfection was insufficient to gain measurable results, i.e., the Greek approach was not sufficient.  “I concluded at length that the mere speculative conviction, that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping.”  In Franklin’s life, as in our lives, “Habit took the advantage of inattention, and inclination was sometimes too strong for reason.” 

After his initial failure, Franklin determined to employ a more structured approach.  He developed a list of thirteen areas, which he referred to as “virtues”, that he hoped to address singularly.  Franklin defined these virtues as:

(1) Temperance: Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation. (2) Silence: Speak only of what might benefit others or yourself.  Avoid trifling conversation. (3) Order:  Let all your things have their place. Let each part of your business have its time. (4) Resolution:  Resolve to perform what you ought.  Perform without fail what you resolve. (5) Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.(6) Industry: Lose no time.  Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions. (7) Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly. If you speak, speak accordingly. (8) Justice: Do no wrong by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty. (9) Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forbear presenting injury so much as you think they deserve.  (10) Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. (11) Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles or accidents common or unavoidable. (12) Chastity.(13) Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Franklin began by dedicating one week to each virtue for thirteen consecutive weeks and then repeated the process four times each year.  Each day began with a remembrance of the virtue in focus, while each day concluded with an assessment of successes and failures to correct in the coming days.  Franklin recorded his shortcomings on a board with seven columns corresponding to the seven days, and thirteen rows corresponding to the thirteen virtues.  To encourage this endeavor, Franklin formulated the following prayer to daily solicit the assistance of God, which he affixed to his examination table.

“Oh powerful goodness, Bountiful Father, Merciful guide.  Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest.  Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates.  Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual favors to me.”

Whether Franklin gained his approach from his extensive reading or simply stumbled onto his strategy, is not offered.  His endeavor closely paralleled the Jewish Mussar movement that occurred a century later.  The Hebrew term “musar” is taken from Proverbs 1:2, “To know wisdom and instruction (musar), to discern the sayings of understanding.”  The most common translation of “musar” is “discipline”, as in “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD” (Prov 3:11), as Paul spoke to the Corinthians,

“I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified,” (1 Cor 9:27). 

Musar is a structured approach to break down and minimize our bad habits, while elevating the good habits we are called to perform.  From the believer’s perspective, it is a technique to enable a believer, “To walk in the same manner as He (Jesus) walked,” (1 John 2:6).

As we would expect, Franklin found his faults much greater than he expected, Yet, he did not give up on his effort.  Franklin started the process sometime in his thirties and continued throughout his entire life.  At the end of his life, he recorded the following.

“On the whole I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it.  Yet, I was by the endeavor, a better and happier man, than I otherwise should have been if I not attempted it.  As those who aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies.  Though they never reach the wished for excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor.”

To this end, Franklin offered a parable about his efforts, as a common depiction of the persons who chose a path of improvement as he had chosen. 

“After frequent relapses, I was almost ready to give up the attempt and content myself with my faults.  Like the man who in buying an ax from the blacksmith desired to have the whole of its surfaces bright as the edge.  The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel.  He turned while the smith pressed the broad face of the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing.  The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work was going.  At length, the man would take the ax as it was without further grinding.  “No,” says the smith.  “Turn on and turn on.  We will have it bright by and by.  As yet, it is only speckled.”  “Yes,” says the man.  “But I think I like a speckled ax the best.”  And I believe this may have been the case with many who employed such means as I employed and found the difficulty of obtaining good and breaking bad habits in points of vice and virtue and have given up the struggle and concluded that a speckled ax is best…After all, a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself to keep his friends in countenance.”

By his own reckoning, Franklin never achieved the perfection he desired.  Yet, Franklin saw benefit in the struggle, “I was by the endeavor, a better and happier man”. 

Believers are called to a similar struggle to “discipline my body and make it my slave.”  In our endeavor, we are given one great advantage over Franklin.  Believers have the Spirit who enables us to walk in obedience just as Jesus walked, as it is written,

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My commandments.” (Ezek 36:27)
 
Hi From Austin = Scott

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