At Mass last Sunday, the second reading was from 1 John, and included 1 John 2:4 (NAB): “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” As the lector read those words, I was transported to a time twenty years ago when I was on a business trip with several coworkers.
One of my colleagues on the trip was a tall, vivacious blonde. I’ll call her “Miss Texas,” because she hailed from that state and spoke with quite a Texas twang. She was a delightful coworker, but a little gullible. After our meetings one evening, a group of us were walking down the street toward a restaurant for dinner. We were bantering back and forth, when suddenly I heard Miss Texas call out, “You’re a lah-yer and the truth ain’t in yah.”
I interpreted her remark to be aimed at me, the only “lawyer” in the group. I turned around, wondering why she didn’t think the truth was in me and why she was accusing me of untruthfulness now.
Then I saw she was talking to another of our colleagues, a guy who had apparently been teasing Miss Texas about something that she vehemently disputed.
She said again, “Mah momma always told mah brother and me when we fibbed to her, ‘you’re a lah-yer and the truth ain’t in yah.’”
Then it dawned on me—she’d said “liar,” not “lawyer.”
“That’s what the Bible says,” she continued. “And that’s what mah momma said when we lahd. And you’re lah-ing to me now.”
We all had a good laugh, and then ate a good dinner. Barbeque, as I recall.
That Bible verse from 1 John had never grabbed my attention before, but it has every time I’ve heard it read in church since. Though I admit that, rather than focusing on the need to follow the commandments, which was John’s intent, the words bring to my mind Miss Texas and her momma and her drawl.
And when I am a lector at church faced with this reading, I am tempted to mimic the Texan twang—to talk about being a “lah-yer” and to substitute “ain’t” for the proper verb.
On a more philosophical note, this incident also makes me think of all the times that our memories play false with us. Some of our memories we know to be true, because there are photographs or written accounts that verify our recollections.
But other things we remember as fact, when perhaps they are not. Perhaps our memories are merely “truthy,” Or perhaps what we remember is an out-and-out lie—our brain has manipulated our memories to be something that never happened.
Sometimes the truth is not in us, though we think it is.
What sayings bring to mind memories for you?
