Auto-Bible-ography
“ . . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:32 NASB
Truth – It’s time to write your autobiography. Well, no, not really. Did you ever think about the illogical assumptions of an autobiography. First, of course, is the fact that the real meaning of a life can’t be fully understood until it’s over. You have to die before you can write with any true comprehension about yourself. Secondly, autobiographies are basically arrogant. They suppose that the author can adequately and accurately portray himself, something we know has built-in blinders. Just remember that fact that most people consider themselves above average. Finally, a real autobiography needs to be an auto-Bible-ography. Why? Because the only true author of the history of mankind is the Creator of mankind and without His rather long perspective on our roles in the grand drama of the universe, we really are whistling in the dark.
But let’s suppose that you are committed to an auto-Bible-ography. Where would you begin your story? Well, let’s start with John 8:32, the connection between truth and freedom. I’m guessing that you want your auto-Bible-ography to be true. No sense in filling it with little white lies and exaggerations. After all, this is your contribution to posterity. So, speak the truth. Of course, to speak the truth means that you have to know the truth, not just about yourself but about the sphere of influence you have, no matter how distant that might be. That requires a kind of divine oversight, so I would imagine that your auto-Bible-ography must begin with the fundamental facts about who you are from God’s point of view. Not where you were born, when you were born, who your parents were, etc, but rather why you are here. That might take a whole lifetime to figure out, but with the insight of the Messiah, we can see that knowing this basic fact leads directly to something we call freedom. Isn’t that nice? We can know we’re truly free as soon as we know truly why we are here. The problem is that most of us won’t really know why we were here until we’re dead, or later.
There has to be another way.
Notice the remark of Eli Rubin: “ . . . ‘personal truth’ can only be stamped with the seal of divine truth when it spills over into real charitable activity in the concrete social realm.”[1]
Ah, here’s a path that can help us understand the truth of our being here and lead us to freedom. It’s called charity. Giving myself for the good of others. That’s something I can do now even if I don’t have the final answer to the whyquestion. When I do acts of charity, acts of benevolence toward others at cost to myself, then I discover something about me that sets me free to be who I was intended to be. Now I have a line in my auto-Bible-ography that “spills over” with divine truth.
It’s a start.
Topical Index: autobiography, truth, freedom, charity, John 8:32
[1] Eli Rubin, “Habad Hasidism and the Mystical Reconstruction of Society,” in Jewish Spirituality and the Social Transformation, p. 75.
