IS THIS TRUE ABOUT YOU ????? V. 2

Added: I had hoped the word "minister" would imply the discussion of spiritual issues. For the record: Spiritual concerns are at the heart of what I am most often asked about and what I ask about. ETERNITY IS FOREVER !!!! 


The distinguished professor of history at Norte Dame, Thomas F. X. Noble, says that all of recorded history seeks to answer two questions:

• WHAT HAPPENED ?
•  WHAT WILL FUTURE GENERATIONS THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED? 

Now let's look at the question raised in the title of this Post?

Being doubly blessed to have a father alive as he nears 99 years of age, and to be in a capacity to be involved with many senior adults as they come face to face with their own mortality has given me a special opportunity to know and understand the personal histories of many, many people.

1. ORAL HISTORIES (What Happened)---All of us have an oral history. Most do not have a written history of our lives. Consequently, as people age they want  to be remembered.  Their "Story" is oft repeated to family, friends, and as Forrest Gump taught us, even to total strangers. 

An oral history is usually meant, without this being verbalized, to be transmitted to and through many generations. Most people want to try and connect the dots from their earliest memories to the present and beyond. Subjects covered include significant people who were involved in our lives, love and  marriages,jobs, places lived, education, hobbies, vacations, and the complete script of life itself.

As people age, long term memory outpaces short term memory and old stories are retold and new facts and events never revealed before, come to the forefront. 

2. CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW (What Will They Think)

Whether we like to admit it or not, all of us, from a very early age, are "Spin Doctors." That is, we try to influence how our listeners will respond to our "Story" Most of the time we seek to present our history in a positive light. 

Sometimes humor and the "Poor Boy" approach is employed. "When I was your age I had to walk ten miles, barefoot, to school!" No one believes that;but it says, "I had it rougher than you."

We tell of our mistakes in an effort to influence our listeners not to repeat them. 

Here's something I find most interesting: Oral histories of the elderly are often told in a Tell All fashion. Maybe this is confession that is long overdue or it is to set the record straight on what others may have told the listener. They reveal things in confidence.

Over the years I have heard many, many accounts of youthful indiscretions--- including minor crimes, drinking, detailed romantic encounters, lies, both big and small, anger, fights, and assorted other teen and young adult adventures.

Often, stories of affairs, serious addiction,  stealing, and a host of major wrongs come forth from the period of their early twenties to the present so as to clear a troubled conscience. 

It has been said that when a minister dies a thousand secrets go to the grave with him. I wonder if a thousand is a large enough number.

I would be remiss if I did not tell of a woman I once knew who had written multiple volumes of her family's lives. Truly, this is the exception rather than the norm.