When I hear
the word fame I often think of that lyric from the 80’s Fame TV series. You remember it, “Fame, I’m gonna live forever”.
There are also lyrics that speak of making it to heaven and a plea to
“remember my name”. Other parts of the song just repeat the word “remember”
over and over and over.
The desire
for fame seems to stem from the desire for “unity”, connecting with others,
wanting to be remembered and wanting to remember others, not to mention the
desire for eternal life, but the logic of worldly fame rests on a fallacy. It
is a very strange idea indeed that our fulfillment depends on the thoughts,
opinions and applause of others. What an odd desire to want to live always in
imagination of others, as if that were the only place one could at last be
real.
The phenomenon
of reality TV seems to be a good example of the human desire for fame gone wild.
It is one of those peculiar ways in which humans are different than animals,
and it isn't just a matter of spectrum. Just like “religion” and “the arts” and
even wearing clothes, some things are uniquely human and separate us from
animals. Consider the animal closest to us. About 96% of a chimps DNA is
genetically similar to ours, but they share 0% our religions, 0% of art &
music and 0% of our clothes. I wouldn't necessarily expect a 96% match in these
areas, but if all we
essentially are is a self-running DNA code, I would expect greater than a 0% similarity.
No primitive religious rituals or sacrifices, no primeval drum beats or structured
dance, no basic cave drawings or banana sculptures, not so much as a fig leaf
to cover their shame, and of course, no evidence of desiring “fame”.
Desires that
are uniquely human can relate to the principle that every innate desire reveals
the existence of its desired object. For example, hunger indicates the
existence of food, thirst indicates the existence of water, and curiosity
indicates knowledge. Similarly, the desire for perfect unity, living forever
and being remembered forever, indicate the real existence of such things, even
the desire to worship something above nature points to the existence of
something supernatural worthy of worship.
INTERESTING SIDE NOTE:
Even false religion points to the
existence of true religion; consider how the existence of counterfeit money suggests
the existence of real money, even if one had never seen real money.
In the self-centered attempt to make a
name for ourselves, we echo the sin of the Babel Tower Builders in Genesis
11:4. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower
whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name…"
Instead of trying to make a name for yourselves, let God make your names great
and “rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." (Luke 10:20). “…and I
will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” (Gen
12:2)
Fame allows
one to be remembered after this life as a way to “live-on” indefinitely. We all
want to be remembered and to remember others. It reminds me of a homily I once heard
about an elderly man married for many years. He would regularly visit his wife
in a nursing home. She had a severe case of advanced Alzheimer’s disease and
she had no idea who he even was, but we would still come to see her anyway.
Some said to the husband, “She doesn't even remember you. Why do you bother to visit her so
often?” The husband answered in protest, “Because I remember her!!!”
Our desire
for fame (union, eternal life, remembrance) is wasted on trying to live on in
the imagination of others, but can be realized in union with God and the Eucharist
can offer us the source and summit of these desires. We go to communion and
think about what the word communion means; unity, intimacy, closeness. The
imagery of the vine & the branches show the kind of living closeness we are
talking about. Remain in Him and He will remain in you (see John 15:4-5). We
all want to live forever and that is what we are offered in the Eucharist. His
body and His blood as real food and real drink; real nourishment for the journey
to eternal life (see John 6:53-55).
Let’s not
forget about remembrance. The Eucharist is all about remembering. “Do this in remembrance
of me.” (Luke 22:19) We have remembered Jesus for nearly 2000 years, but we also want to be remembered and
remembered forever. Instead of trying to live-on in the imagination of
strangers in the fallacy of worldly fame, let’s remember His promise to
remember us…“I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Mathew
28:20) Let us remember too His name as Emmanuel, God is with us. Amen.
