The Presence of the Author

English literature has not been my youngest son’s favorite subject. It seems overkill, he says, to analyze every word or phrase in an effort to figure out what the author was trying to say, what literary devices he used to say it, and why it was important to him or her to do so.

Aaaarrrgh!, he fumes… Could the author really have had all that in mind when he created the simple poem? How could the literary critics know for sure? They’re making grand theories and intense discussions and long homework assignments out of a few lines of verse!

I’m thinking his response would be different if only Robert Frost himself could have strolled into the classroom on a frosty February morning, brushed back his white hair, and launched into a description of the writing of “Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening.” If only the reclusive Emily Dickinson could have stepped shyly out of her shell and into a Fort LeBoeuf Lit class to divulge the reason she wrote “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” If only E. E. Cummings could himself convey the spirit in which he penned (without punctuation, of course) “in Just-spring when the world is mudluscious”…

The presence of the author would have made all the difference. Their explanations would have taken the guesswork out of interpretation. Their personalities and passions would have injected vitality into study. Their descriptions of themselves and the settings would have made the meanings vivid. And, to my son’s satisfaction, it would all have been real – not the best guesses of those many times removed from the actual writings.

Same with our study of the Bible, as Paul said in Corinthians 3. For only the Spirit of God knows why God wrote what He did in His Word. He’s the only qualified, the only authorized Interpreter.

So whether we’re listening to the most anointed teachers or sitting alone with the Word, there’s one Presence Who takes the guesswork out, puts the vitality in, removes the veil of skepticism, and reveals why God wrote the Word, what He was feeling when He wrote it, and what He was and wasn’t trying to say. There’s one Presence Who makes every word real: the Spirit of God.

And there’s no “if-only” here. The Spirit can step into our classroom. He can sit down with us and tutor us One-on-one. He can speak directly from the heart of God through the pages of the Bible to make what was once a seemingly pointless “assignment” into … a favorite subject. His presence will make all the difference.