I’ve been reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on Benjamin Franklin recently, and in a portion I read this morning, the fable of The Man, the Boy and the Donkey was referenced.  Franklin noted this fable in a pamphlet he wrote to instruct printers on how they should decide on what clients to take on.  Franklin was a big supporter of the free press, but he also realized there may be times when a printer must refuse to print something on moral grounds.  Perhaps more importantly, though, he realized that trying to please everyone would quickly lead to pleasing no one.

The fable he referenced is the following:

The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

A MAN and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”

So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”

Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor Donkey of yours—you and your hulking son?”

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.

“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them:

“PLEASE ALL, AND YOU WILL PLEASE NONE.”

I have to admit that the first thing that came to my mind when reading that were the recent discussions we’ve had here concerning Rick Warren.  It seems to me that there is nothing he could where he doesn’t displease someone.  This could be said of many Christian leaders I think.  I know that when I was overseeing a campus ministry, I was amazed that I always managed to disappoint or tick off someone.

All of this is to not defend or demean Rick Warren, but rather to observe once again as we enter the new year, that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

May you all have blessed new year and continue to live honestly and with conviction!