My Friend Ben

I have been reading Benjamin Franklin by Carl Van Doren published in 1938 by The Viking Press. I am not through it yet and already, I feel I must write about it. It is a book I was allowed to take for free from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 2, 2011, between 11:00AM and 2:30PM during a book giveaway. As you might imagine, there was a host of us there sporting boxes.

My husband, daughter and I wheeled our free book selections out on office chairs with swivel wheels that were also a part of the giveaway. We each had selected from our own preferences. My husband’s was history and geography, my daughter’s was science and literature, mine was American studies and literature. How could I do any better than with a book written about Benjamin Franklin?

Today is only five days later and I have already begun a painting in relationship to the American I always admired superficially, having owned a copy of Ben Franklin adages that sat on my coffee table for many years. About his life, I knew relatively nothing other than a story of a kite, lightning, electricity and moral fabric tossed about through adages slurped randomly. I knew I liked Benjamin Franklin, but I really didn’t know why. Call it intuition, or not, if the thought frightens you.

I’m finding I was savvy to feel rather kindly toward Ben, even if he validated a few things that make me cringe with my political correctness lens that hasn’t yet been fully deleted (I’m working on it with a little help from my own Junto, a scheme I have adopted from Ben who adopted it from Cotton Mather). Ben’s industrious capacities cannot be denied, he accomplished a lot before the advent of light technology, and he had to use ink and type and set it and before that, create what was to be said, he was a one man google-anonymous-blogger without the light show and the quickness, but will all the punch.

I mean, I really admire this human being, the way he was being, inside of where he lived and when, and even now, I would like very much to be locked into an elevator with Benjamin Franklin for awhile, it would not prove onerous, but uplifting, perhaps to the next floor of my own conscious participation with the world I live in. That is why I am determined to paint part of what I learnt about him that makes me like him so much, a plan for living, a list of desirable virtues he longed to groom in himself, a list complete as twelve things, or so he thought, until a good Quaker friend pointed out his many instances of lack of humility, to which Benjamin had to agree when he viewed what must be repeated with the acceptance for others’ opinions.

The list went from twelve to thirteen then. Obviously messing up the mathematical beauty of how it fit into taking Ben through the list one at a time for a week, for twelve weeks, to begin to repeat again and make way to practice all traits for a month of each year at its conclusion, but nevertheless, it works well to remember humility before going back through the original twelve again, lest we forget our requirements to be parrots. And, the original list with the addition is herewith set out as the desirable virtues our young Benjamin set off to instil in his internal world:

1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. 2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. 3. Order: Let all your things have their places; 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, and, if you speak, speak accordingly. 8. Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. 9. Moderation: Avoid extremes, forbear resenting injuries do much as you think they deserve. 10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. 11. Tranquillity: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. 12. Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation. 13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates (Benjamin Franklin by Van Doren, p. 88).

Now, I am committed to attempting this exercise throughout the year 2011 to see what I can see inside myself surfacing daily under scrutiny by my own conscious act. Temperance, I have but one day today followed and realized that once I met my limit of three fudgsicles, I resorted to placing my foot upon the kitchen bench and stretching out the desire to finger the remnants inside the freezer. Woe, is me, I do not drink, but man can I eat when contemplating. I must take up a race to the other side of the house to keep my date with number one on day one, this is going to be a long year.

More on the painting next time...