Dear
Friends,
Much of
winter is still ahead of us. On cold, snowy nights, shut off the telly, put
away social media devices and tell stories: each other’s, well-loved stories,
stories with surprise endings, stories that helped shape us Enjoy and treasure your stories of life,
faith, adventure.
We live a
life-long story, and yet, if asked, we would not be sure that our own stories
are interesting at all. It’s only in the telling of our stories, we begin to
see their value and worth.
We also have
a wealth of family stories. My four-foot eight Polish peasant
grandfather, conscripted into the Russian
army, deserted, and somehow made his way to Lackawanna, New York. How did that
happen? I had no idea, before hearing this story as a child, that my little Grandpa had such courage!
We tell
stories that have impacted others in the world, stories about what happened at
school or work. Travelling, seated next to strangers, we often exchange
stories. Sometimes, we reveal to strangers whom we will never see again parts
of ourselves we don’t easily share with people closer to us: incidents, near-misses, day dreams. “I
remember once… I had an experience something like that…”
Beyond those
of our own lives, we like to hear other stories, see stories unfold on TV or in
books, or at the movies. Stories make
meaning the way that analysis or synthesis can’t. Where did the world come
from? Why are there people? Who don’t snakes have legs? Why do the living die?
As we read the lives of others in biographies, we clarify our own convictions,
and have new tools to examine our own lives. Here’s a thought: Go where you can
hear the stories of migrants and refugees and be awed. To be human is to have a story to tell.
The much
admired writer, Elie Weisel, once remarked “God created people because he loves
stories.” We know that Jesus was a remarkable storyteller. He used the stuff of
ordinary life, introduced strangers into the story who became unexpectedly
central to the meaning of the story and, as we know when we study them, these
parables say more than they seemed to intend, to this very day.
God is not
captured for once and for all in our human stories, but God is surely revealed in
our stories, if our eyes and hearts are open.
The philosopher
Kierkegaard went even further to say “the only real answers to religious
questions are in the telling of a story.” So dare to explore religious
questions in this seemingly simple way. Tell and enjoy the power of stories in
your life.
