LEARNINGS, LEARNINGS
INTRODUCTION
The title of
my homily for this 4th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Absalom,
Absalom, Learnings, Learnings.”
I’m only going
to say some words about today’s first reading from the Second Book of Samuel.
[Cf. 2 Samuel 18: 9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30 - 19:3].
The gospel is
intriguing as well - with stories about the teenage girl thought dead, but
alive, and the woman with the blood problems. But time is a factor….
I got thinking
and reading about Absalom last night - thinking about a homily for this
morning.
As we heard
from this section of the second book of Samuel yesterday, Absalom was one of
David’s sons.
He rebels -
going to war with his father - as he is trying to take over some of his father’s
kingdom.
And David
doesn’t know what to do.
David had a
lot of conflicts in his life.
We know of his
fight with Goliath.
We know of his
getting Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba pregnant - and then tried to figure
out a way of having him killed.
We know of his split with Saul - Israel’s first king - how they were early on
in a sort of father-son relationship. The story I like is when he sneaks into
the camp site of Saul and takes Saul’s spear while he is sleeping. David’s
companion, Abishai, says, “Here’s his
spear. Let me pin him to the ground right now.” The next day from a distance
David screams across the hill to Saul, “Here’s your spear!” Hint! Hint! I could have killed you. “I’m
sending the spear back to you.”
LECTURE IN NEW YORK
In 1994 I got
a 6 month Sabbatical and I took it in New York City.
It was a nice
break - no work - no responsibilities.
One day, I
noticed in the paper that a Rabbi was giving a talk on David at a synagogue in
mid-town.
I signed up.
Interesting. It was worth it.
Looking back
the key thing I remembered was that the speaker said that those who put
together the Jewish Scriptures about David - were those rabbi’s and writers who favored David
used the power of the pen to make David much better than he was in reality.
And that’s one
of the Bible texts that we have for today.
The speaker
also said, “David was a flawed king - a sinner if there ever was one - but he
did a lot of good for the nation - for
the people called the Israelites.
WILLIAM FAULKNER
William
Faulkner wrote a novel - entitled Absalom, Absolom.
It was about a man name Thomas Sutpen.
The novel
describles a man who like David who had a tough life - losing his sons. Thomas
Sutpen was a bit like David. He led a flawed - self destructive life.
The story takes
place in Mississipi - at a mansion built
by Thomas Sutpen. and then his desire for sons.
Here in today’s first reading Absalom gets caught
by the hair in a tree as he’s riding along on a mule.
Joab - one of
David’s commanders, who is also connected to the sister of David -comes along
and drives three spikes through the
heart of Absalom.
Thomas Sutpin
in the novel, Absalom, Absalom, experiences the violent death of his chidlren.
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY
Where to go
with all this? How to end this homily.
One thought
for the day would be the reminder to read not only the Bible but also novels
and see what stuff they get us in touch with.
Thomas Sutpen
- according to William Faulkner - wanted sons.
What do we do
we who don’t have sons?
What do we do,
when life doesn’t work out for us as we hope it will?
Thomas Sutpen
- once went to the front door of a house - and he was told, “You’re a back door
person.” That one experience triggered a
lot of stuff - especially his desire to be rich, an owner of a giant mansion,
with slaves and plenty of property.
Is there any
life experience that drives us to be the way we are?
This book and
his other writings helped him win the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.
What was a
book that grabbed you?
What was a
book that got you to look at family?
Faulkner
peeled off layer after layer of a person.
Has there been
a novel that did that for you?
In reading
some reviews and interviews about Absalom, Absalom, I read that Faulkner presented both a wounded
devil as well as a wounded Christ.
Did any book
get you to see Christ and the devil in a new way?
CONCLUSION
My conclusion
would be: Learn, learn…. and what literature helps you learn.
And P.S. I
spotted something very interesting.
Two
outstanding American writers were Hemingway and Walkner.
I was taught
that Hemingway wrote short sentences. For example, “He shot the dog.” Faulkner
on the other hand had great material, but was lazy when it came to writing. I
spotted a comment while reading a review of Absalom, Absalom. The longest sentence in literature is 1,288 words. It can be found in Chapter 6
of the novel.
Read, read. Learn, learn.
