Autobiography

Seeing ourselves in every word we utter

06/12/2019

2 Corinthians 3:4-11 Brothers and sisters: Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.

I am learning lately that whenever someone speaks they always say something autobiographical, that is, they reveal something about themselves as a person. Human beings never speak simply about science, or solely about spirituality, or even specifically about supper without saying something about ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our hopes and dreams, our pride and prejudice. Now, the funny thing is that 99% of the time, we don’t see this autobiographical element. In other words, we believe we are only addressing the objective truth about the world, but we are inevitably also uncovering the subjective truth about ourselves. When we open our mouths, we tell the world a little about our past, a little about our personality, a little about our priorities, a little of our purpose. I am convinced that human beings cannot help but speak autobiographically.

When I arrived in Fort Smith, I realized it is very helpful to learn a lady’s maiden name. Why? It’s very hard to gossip in Fort Smith because everyone is related to everyone else. But more importantly, marriage does not make you delete your past when you drop your maiden name. You bring your past, your autobiography, into your marriage. The way you raise children, the way you communicate, the way you spend money, the way you pray will all reflect how you were reared as a child, in a word, your autobiography. The sooner spouses catch this personal part of every word they utter, the sooner they can diffuse disputes and cherish and love their soul-mate. Human beings cannot help but communicate autobiographically: we inescapably say something about ourselves when we say something about the world.

This autobiographical aspect of communication should be borne in mind when we read the bible. St. Paul’s letters are deeply self-revealing, especially his past as a Pharisee and his conversion to Christianity. Listen to this line from his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul, the former Pharisee (that is almost his maiden name!), writes: “[God] has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.” Now, what St. Paul is conveying about the new covenant of grace is absolutely true, but can you also hear an autobiographical aspect to Paul’s point? In other words, his former Pharisaism helped him to catch the distinction between letter and spirit because Pharisees care a lot more about the letter than the spirit. A writer’s autobiographical element does not abrogate what they say; it only adds to it and accentuates it.

In the gospel Jesus speaks about himself as much as about anything else; he, too, because he is truly human, speaks autobiographically. Jesus says: “Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Our Lord not only touches on heaven, I believe he is sharing something about his home, his family, his past, his perspective, his purpose, his desires, his dreams. In a word, he reveals himself. You know how some people say “Jesus H. Christ”? Well, I believe the “H” stands for home and heaven and is almost our Lord’s “maiden name,” his autobiography. Every word a person utters, even Jesus, has a hint of their home, their hurts, their hopes and their happiness. Every word is autobiographical.

My friends, listen carefully and try to catch the deeply personal tone and texture of every conversation. When someone speaks they reveal a little about themselves, and so do we. People running for president write autobiographies about themselves so the public can get to know the candidate. I would argue, however, their autobiography is obvious in every word they say. In the seminary they taught us in homiletics class not to speak excessively about ourselves in our sermons. And that is true: parishioners get tired of hearing about our vacations and our vexations. Stop talking about John and say more about Jesus. On the other hand, every preacher can only convince others about Christ, if he or she is first convicted about Christ. The best sermons always say something about the speaker, whether or not he uses the first person singular pronoun, “I.” Every word is autobiographical.

I truly believe married couples could communicate better if they kept this in mind. My spouse is sharing not only objective truth, but also his or her subjective truth when they speak. Maybe the autobiographical element of every word will help you take your spouse a little less seriously because they are only saying something about themselves. And then again, maybe it will help you take them very seriously because they are saying something about themselves.

Every human word has a hint of our autobiography. How I end my homilies says something about Jesus, and it also says something about me.

Praised be Jesus Christ!