Pt. 2: Faith Advice from Ben Franklin's Father

Josiah Franklin’s son Ben Franklin was 15th of 17 children. Josiah had seven children with his first wife Anne Child and 10 children with his second wife, Abiah Folger. By the time Ben came along, his father had plenty of experience and fatherly wisdom to pass on to him. Because of the death of his first wife, his father also understood the preciousness of life and that faith in God mattered.

Ben Franklin in Boston by Elmer Boyd Smith, 1916

Sent To Benjamin Franklin in New England, July 15, 1710

Be to thy parents an Obedient son;
Each Day let Duty constantly be Done;
Never give Way to sloth or lust or pride
If free you’d be from Thousand Ills beside.
Above all Ills be sure Avoide the shelfe:
Mans Danger lyes in Satan, sin and selfe.
In vertue, Learning, Wisdome progress make.
Nere shrink at suffering for thy saviours sake;
Fraud and all Falshood in thy Dealings Flee;
Religious Always in thy station be;
Adore the Maker of thy Inward part:
Now’s the Accepted time, Give him thy Heart.
Keep a Good Conscience, ’tis a constant Frind;
Like Judge and Witness This Thy Acts Attend.
In Heart with bended knee Alone Adore
None but the Three in One Forevermore.

Faith is a prevailing theme in this poem through lines such as “Adore the Maker of thy Inward part: Now’s the Accepted time, Give him thy Heart,” and “In Heart with bended knee Alone Adore, None but the Three in One Forevermore.”

I started writing this article during the 2022 campaign season. One particular interview caught my attention because of how the candidate characterized our society's need to reconnect to God.

“We do need to bring God back into our society,” Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, said at a town hall event hosted by Sean Hannity on Fox News.

“I’m just going to say that. Our state motto is God enriches. God enriches. Katie Hobbs doesn’t even want our state motto in the classroom probably because the word God is in there. This is what’s happened. When we push God out of our society, out of our culture, out of our homes, out of our hearts, look what's happened to America. We need to bring God back. We really do.”

I was looking for another example of bringing God back into our culture when I sensed a still small voice telling me that I needed to hold off from finishing this article. I would know what I was looking for when I saw it.

This week something happened on television in the sports world that's never happened before. An NFL player, Damar Hamlin, needed CPR to save his life after collapsing on the field.

Then we witnessed something else that had never happened on sports TV before. One of the broadcasters led a prayer live on air to pray for Hamlin.

A truly beautiful and poignant moment occurred during Tuesday’s broadcast of NFL Live. NFL Analyst Dan Orlovsky did something completely foreign in the corporate media: he bowed his head and prayed in front of a national audience.

As we all know, Damar Hamlin on Monday night suffered the worst injury in NFL history and is currently fighting for his life in a hospital. He has received well-wishes and prayers across America for his full recovery.

Orlovsky joined in a way that frankly made modern TV history. He first expressed uncertainty whether he was doing the right thing but then vowed to move ahead:

“Maybe this is not the right thing to do but it’s on my heart I want to pray for him.”

I’m going to do it out loud, I’m going to close my eyes, I’m going to bow my head and I ‘m just going to pray for him.”

Then he began to pray for Hamlin.

“God, we come to you in these moments that we don’t understand, that are hard, uh, because we believe that You’re God and coming to You and praying to You, um, has impact.”

“We’re, we’re sad, we’re angry, um, and we want answers. But some things are unanswerable.”

“We just want to pray, truly come to You, and pray for strength for Damar, for healing for Damar, for comfort for Damar, to be with his family to give them peace.

NFL Analyst Dan Orlovsky’s desire to pray in that moment mirrored the sentiment of Ben Franklin's father in wanting his son to have an understanding and respect for God. Josiah Franklin encouraged his son to pray on bended knee.

A sports broadcaster brought God back into America for a moment. I suspect we are beginning to see more of such moments in different parts of our culture.