“Early to bed and early to rise,” hasn’t really worked for me (standard:humor, 917 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Oct 07 2012	Views/Reads: 8547/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
My father was not what you would call a literate person. Apart from the Bible, he did not read much of anything else on a regular basis. I can remember as a young person him quoting a great American patriot, Benjamin Franklin. The only quote he knew of th

My father was not what you would call a literate person. Apart from the
Bible, he did not read much of anything else on a regular basis. I can 
remember as a young person him quoting a great American patriot, 
Benjamin Franklin. The only quote he knew of this man was, “Early to 
bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” 

For a long time I thought he was making it up and then one day, I
happened to run across a book in the library about Benjamin Franklin 
and, there it was. Benjamin actually did say that. 

I had to give my father that one. 

It seems that every time it got close to what my father termed as “my
bedtime,” he would remind me of this famous quote. It got so I hated 
when bedtime came. 

At the time, I had my doubts about the validity of this quote because if
my father followed this quote as he encouraged me to do, why was he not 
healthy, wealthy and wise? At the time, I was in no position to 
question his wisdom. I was wise enough to know that the best part of 
wisdom was not to challenge the wisdom of my father. This has 
attributed to my length of life to date. 

Incidentally, I have carried this over into my married life. 

According to my father, if I simply obeyed Franklin's advice I would
have a life filled with health, wealth and wisdom. The three things 
absolutely needed in life to make a person happy. Or, so Franklin would 
lead us to believe. 

After what seems to be a lifetime of living, and living in as much
harmony of these two aspects of life, I must say that there is very 
little truth to be said concerning good old Franklin's saying. No 
matter how early I go to bed or how early I get up, I do not seem to be 
any wealthier or healthier. Perhaps, and this is only a guess on my 
part because I am not as wise as old Benjamin Franklin, you had to do 
something when you got up that contributed or created your wealth. Just 
a suggestion from me. 

That is the way it is with most sayings. They sound good; you sound wise
in quoting them; but after every saying is quoted, nothing seems to 
change. They just do not cover the whole spectrum. 

It is not that I have not given it the good old college try; it just
does not work for me. 

This past week I had an occasion to think about this quote. I have tried
keeping the early to bed and early to rise objective in full focus 
throughout my life. I am not up partying until the wee hours of the 
morning. At my age, my party time is early afternoon. 

I have made a concerted effort to get enough rest and just to make sure
I have enough rest I indulge in an afternoon nap. I am not sure where 
this comes in Benjamin Franklin's quote. 

Recently, I had cause to reflect upon the validity of Benjamin
Franklin's sage advice. 

My quarterly taxes were due, and you know what good old Uncle Sam thinks
about being late on his payments. If confession is good for the soul 
(another famous quote), I need to confess that while I was writing this 
check to Uncle Sam I had some rather harsh thoughts about him in the 
process. There, I said it. 

During the same week, some other bills were due and none of them would
take no for an answer. Again, I must confess, while writing these 
checks I was sputtering to myself quite a bit. As I looked at my 
checkbook, I knew that the “wealthy” component of Benjamin Franklin's 
quote did not come in my direction. I was simply out of wealth. 

Not only that, but I recently spent about four weeks sick with
bronchitis and pneumonia and spent about three weeks in bed. Not only 
was I early to bed, but I was glued to my bed. How does that fit into 
Franklin's saying? The “healthy” aspect of that quote has not fallen in 
my direction either. 

If you want to know about the wise element, simply query the Gracious
Mistress of the Parsonage. 

Another old phrase says, three strikes and you're out. Well, according
to the Franklin saying, I must concede that I am out. I am not wealthy, 
in many regards I'm not healthy and for sure, I'm not wise. 

It is my opinion that there is a lot more to life than wise old sayings
from some old man from the past. Benjamin Franklin, for example, no 
doubt practiced early to bed and early to rise but in the end, he died. 
That does not sound too healthy to me. 

Of course, the best place for wisdom is the Bible. I like what the
wisest man in the world said, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; 
and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge 
him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV). 

I am not too sure about the healthy and the wealthy components, that is
up for grabs, but I am convinced the wise part comes from the Lord. 
After all, the Bible teaches us that God is Omniscient. If God knows 
everything and I know God, I am in a good position. 


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