There was a story I was told of a man that lived down by three mile harbor. Uncle Zeb he was called, Zebulon Bennett was his name. He is a distant relative of mine although that was unknown back then. It was only with the advent of Ancestry records online and my research that I discovered that. Turns out old Zeb is the uncle of the husband of my 4th great grandmother. So, yes he is kinfolk! He was married and had four children. He really is an uncle!
Anyway, the story was that he was known for not being, shall we say, the crispest cracker in the box. What we would called challenged today. It was said that he painted his house but only as high as he could reach. When asked about that he would say, I don't have a ladder. The house stayed that way. But what he was quoted as having said in response to teasing is what was remembered of him. The local kids were teasing Uncle Zeb, calling him names and such as kids are apt to do. They must have made some reference to his intellect as well because he responded with, " I've got all the wit the good lord saw fit to give me. " And that was it. That exchange was told as a sort of lesson I would say. It was a simple statement of fact, without shame or excuse. That was the lesson being taught. When I was growing up and did something a bit foolish or perhaps unwise, it might be said, " he used all the wit the good lord saw fit to give him. " It was a chiding yes, but one with a lesson. The lesson went deeper than just a chiding however. If you had acted, with all the wit the good lord saw fit to give you, that would be the end of it. You had acted in a honest fashion, just like Uncle Zeb answered his tormentors honestly. It was a lesson in tolerance.
No one sat down and tried to explain any of that to me, I was expected to figure it out for myself. But that is the way it used to be. There weren't any big discussions about such things. By today's standards folks were brutally honest, for the most part. Opinions were stated clearly and concisely without any justification for doing so. I grew up with that and learned to deal with reality. Yes, I was smaller than most guys, skinny they said, and not the best athlete, and was reminded of that often enough, but I continued on with all the good lord saw fit to give me. I quickly learned that it is what it is, no matter what you wish it was.
Now there is always the possibility that you can make it what you want it to be, but that too was your responsibility, no one else's. And that is what I was told; if you don't like it, change it, but until then, it is what it is and you had best learn to accept that. And there are things you just can't change. Some folks aren't going to like you, some folks will be jealous of you, and others will attempt to use you. You can't change that. The best you can do is learn to recognize it. You have limitations! Yes, we all have limitations and you need to learn what they are. I have zero, zip, absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever. I've known that fact for many years and I'm fine with that. I never could hit a well thrown fastball and my singing ability is marginal at best. And the bottom line is, it's all the good lord saw fit to give me. I'm fine. There are plenty of things I can do well and am expert at nothing. That's fine. It's reality. That is the wisdom Uncle Zebulon shared that day. He wasn't bothered by his limitations, he wasn't bothered by what others thought, he was just stating a fact. He did have all the wit the good lord saw fit to give him. I'll leave you with this quote from Alexander Pope, " There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit. "
Anyway, the story was that he was known for not being, shall we say, the crispest cracker in the box. What we would called challenged today. It was said that he painted his house but only as high as he could reach. When asked about that he would say, I don't have a ladder. The house stayed that way. But what he was quoted as having said in response to teasing is what was remembered of him. The local kids were teasing Uncle Zeb, calling him names and such as kids are apt to do. They must have made some reference to his intellect as well because he responded with, " I've got all the wit the good lord saw fit to give me. " And that was it. That exchange was told as a sort of lesson I would say. It was a simple statement of fact, without shame or excuse. That was the lesson being taught. When I was growing up and did something a bit foolish or perhaps unwise, it might be said, " he used all the wit the good lord saw fit to give him. " It was a chiding yes, but one with a lesson. The lesson went deeper than just a chiding however. If you had acted, with all the wit the good lord saw fit to give you, that would be the end of it. You had acted in a honest fashion, just like Uncle Zeb answered his tormentors honestly. It was a lesson in tolerance.
No one sat down and tried to explain any of that to me, I was expected to figure it out for myself. But that is the way it used to be. There weren't any big discussions about such things. By today's standards folks were brutally honest, for the most part. Opinions were stated clearly and concisely without any justification for doing so. I grew up with that and learned to deal with reality. Yes, I was smaller than most guys, skinny they said, and not the best athlete, and was reminded of that often enough, but I continued on with all the good lord saw fit to give me. I quickly learned that it is what it is, no matter what you wish it was.
Now there is always the possibility that you can make it what you want it to be, but that too was your responsibility, no one else's. And that is what I was told; if you don't like it, change it, but until then, it is what it is and you had best learn to accept that. And there are things you just can't change. Some folks aren't going to like you, some folks will be jealous of you, and others will attempt to use you. You can't change that. The best you can do is learn to recognize it. You have limitations! Yes, we all have limitations and you need to learn what they are. I have zero, zip, absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever. I've known that fact for many years and I'm fine with that. I never could hit a well thrown fastball and my singing ability is marginal at best. And the bottom line is, it's all the good lord saw fit to give me. I'm fine. There are plenty of things I can do well and am expert at nothing. That's fine. It's reality. That is the wisdom Uncle Zebulon shared that day. He wasn't bothered by his limitations, he wasn't bothered by what others thought, he was just stating a fact. He did have all the wit the good lord saw fit to give him. I'll leave you with this quote from Alexander Pope, " There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit. "
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