Franklin and perfection...

Be ye, therefore, perfect even as your

Father which is in heaven is perfect.

– Matthew 5:48 – Bible

It is surprising the number of times the Christian scriptures admonish people to be perfect.  Perfection, at least in the Biblical sense, DOES NOT mean reaching a point of spiritual enlightenment whereby one never makes mistakes, nor is vulnerable to error, but rather “…mental and moral completeness….” This suggests being fully grown, not invincible.

I’ve been reading the autobiography of Ben Franklin, one of the signer’s and architects of the Declaration of Independence. Josiah Franklin, his father, was married twice. Before the death of his first wife, Anne Child, she gave him seven children. His second wife, Abiah Folger, delivered ten. Benjamin was the eighth of that brood, making him one of seventeen.

There is much to be said of the remarkable man who, absent much formal education, taught himself French, Italian and Latin. He founded or organized many American institutions that we take for granted such as book lending libraries, fire-fighting houses, public hospitals, insurance companies, and literary societies. His inventions included bifocals, swim fins, lightening rod and flexible catheter, to name a few.

The topic here, however, is not the astonishing things he discovered or enhanced during a lifetime of boundless curiosity, but rather his interest in perfection. He was a Presbyterian, and while supporting the church a good part of his life, he stopped attending services, because he felt more time was spent on doctrine defense than enhancement and quality of parishioner’s lives.

Before the age of twenty, he took it upon himself to attempt moral perfection. Because he understood the difference between right and wrong, he felt it was just a matter of choice. He writes,

“…I conceived the 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…But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another…”

The result was a failure. Failure of the task did not mean failure in the pursuit. Because of this genuine and diligent attempt at moral perfection, he devised a system whereby he might accomplish the goal of a better-quality life. His mental industry led him to review philosophic writings related to virtuous life. He says,

"In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalog more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name…"

The following is the set of virtues Franklin determined would make his life better.

·     Temperance – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

·      Silence – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

·      Order – Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

·      Resolution – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

·      Frugality – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.

·      Industry – Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

·      Sincerity – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

·      Justice – Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

·      Moderation – Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

·      Cleanliness – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

·      Tranquility – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

·      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.

·      Humility – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

From his failure to become perfect through the process of always choosing the right over the wrong, he determined he should concentrate on one virtue at a time. Having mastered one he would move on to the next and so on. To ensure his best effort, he created a book whereby he daily recorded and reviewed the specific virtue he was attempting to master. Understanding these things take time, he allotted one week per virtue. To master his goal Franklin worked in thirteen-week cycles, repeating them four times a year. Over time, the diligence of these recordings diminished, but not his deliberate attempts to keep them foremost in mind.

In the end, he writes that he was not able to perfect each of them, but the very effort of conscientiously working of them made the quality of his life immeasurably better.

Franklin’s experience and the results he achieved provide us a lesson in the value of deliberately exercising moral principles. They should be prized – maybe more so in this day and time.  They remind us that diligence, character and virtue count, not for pointing to other’s faults, but for strengthening ourselves…a mirror, so to speak, by which we reflect our lives.

Moving toward perfection is the key…accomplishing it? I can’t speak for you, but it is above my pay grade.

-ted