Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 33 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Wisdom from Ben Franklin - Part 1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast.  This is Day 33 of our Trek, and in honor of Independence Day in the United States, for the next four days we are going to consult one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, who was known for his wisdom and practical sage advice.

Today we are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio.  It has been a fairly busy day, but not quite as hectic as the first part of the week, so I have been able to get through some of the project work that was not quite as crucial.

Before we head back to North Carolina on Sunday, we do hope to start moving the furniture back into the renovated office, sand and varnish the floor in the eating area, and get the lawn mowed. It will be a challenge to accomplish it all, but we will try.  Below is a picture of the new flooring and wainscoting in our renovated office.

As we begin on our Trek today, we find a buried box near our camp and on opening it, we realize that it contains a listing of 85 Practical tips written by Benjamin Franklin. Let’s take the next few days to see how they apply to our lives.  Old Ben was one of my mom’s favorite authors, and she read many of his quotes to us growing up in hope that his seeds of wisdom would be planted and grow in our lives.

These nuggets of wisdom, when consumed regularly like the book of Proverbs, will teach us to live disciplined and successful lives and to help us do what is right, just, and fair.  Now, it may take a few days for us to reflect on all 85 sayings, but I will add some of my own thoughts along with Ben’s so that we can apply them most effectively.  Some of the sayings do contain words that are not used often today, but I think they are easily enough translated.  So let’s get started.

God helps them that help themselves. - While this is not actually listed in the Bible as many have thought, it still contains Biblical truth.  God is not going to miraculously do for us what He has already given us the capability of doing. 

Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears while the used key is always bright. We will remain brighter, sharper and more useful by effectively working than we ever will by being lazy. Proverbs 6:6 says to, "Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!"

Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of. – Ephesians 5:16 puts it this way, "Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days."

 The sleeping fox catches no poultry. – You can’t accomplish your goals if you don’t take action. Proverbs 6:9 puts it this way, "But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?"

There will be sleeping enough in the grave. – I have to admit, that I do like to work. My kids think that the old hymn "Work for the Night is Coming" is my theme song. I have to admit that I may have repeated that phrase a time or two while they were growing up, but on a serious note, we do need to take advantage of the times in life when we can be productive. As John 9:4 says,  "We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work."

Wasting time must be the greatest prodigality. – Prodigality is excessive or extravagant spending. Money you can always earn again, but time we can never get back once we waste it.

Lost time is never found again. – We are starting to see a theme here in Ben’s anecdotes. Unlike losing money or material possessions, once time is lost it is gone forever.