It’s Complicated

Serving God is doing good to man, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen.

Benjamin Franklin

The bookclub I belong to chooses a genre each month instead of a particular book title. In April, we are reading American history. Benjamin Franklin’s biography by Walter Isaacson has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while. This seemed a good time to dust it off and take a look.

Several things interest me about Mr. Franklin. As with many opinions, it’s complicated. I share his love of France and particularly Paris. I respect his writing talent and his love of books. His views of faith and religion are in many ways similar to mine. I am in awe of his superior intellect and accomplishments . On the other side, I don’t approve of the fact that he was a slave owner before he became an abolitionist or of his opinions and treatment of women.

Life would be easier, if there weren’t so many gray areas. I recently read a blog post by Jaya, smalltownmusing.wordpress.com about lying. We know there are not, “versions of the truth.” Still, not all lies are equal. Some are told with good intentions. Others are said with only evil designs. We might need to look with a more discerning eye before we paint all liars with the same brush.

We are faced with a myriad of contradictions in both politics and religion. In today’s world, the two institutions become harder and harder to separate. Benjamin Franklin wrote about taking the easy way out in serving God. How often have I told someone, “You are in my thoughts and prayers.” When I should have said, “What can I do to help?” Praying is certainly easier than taking action. In reality, I don’t believe God is fooled by our attempts to make it His problem. He whispers into our ear, “What are you going to do about it?”

Over twenty years ago, I volunteered at a historic home which was unique because the family had lived there for generations. After the death of the last descendant, the residence was donated to the state history museum in its entirety. Furniture, housewares, books. Everything was there, just as it had been for over a hundred years.

Yesterday, I went back to visit the home. It had become a women’s history center. That seems appropriate because the last of the family to occupy the house were two women who lived there into their nineties. Their aunt had been an important civic leader and patron of the arts. She along ,with four other women, founded the city art museum. I hardly recognized the house.

In the 1800s, the patriarch of the family was involved in the horrible slaughter of hundreds of Native Americans. Consequently, because what was in the house was attributed to his wealth, much of it had been removed, our tour guide shared with us. Does removing many of the furnishings in this historic home somehow lessen the terrible things he had done? What about the house itself? His wealth was responsible for it. Benjamin Franklin started the first lending library. Should we stop borrowing books because he was a slave owner? It’s complicated.