Storytellers Help Make the World Sane and Doable

I love to tell stories. I started a blog just to fill it with stories that inspire, encourage, and motivate people to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Stories remind us that what occurs for one person can happen for another person. Stories demonstrate our similarities and illustrate our oneness or our we-ness, regardless of race, gender, sex, social class, and all the other categories of difference socially constructed to make us believe that we are too different to be of one nature, people all made in the image of God.

Stories of everyday happenings and miraculous events result in hope and lend credence to our faith, defined as the substance of things hoped for (or anticipated) and of things not seen (I would add the word “yet”). Stories make us laugh, cry, sigh, and shake our heads in agreement when we see ourselves in them. Stories give us the means to salute the courage and bravery of ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary achievements. Stories fascinate us and entertain us, sometimes for hours at a time.

Children love to hear stories rather than simply have someone read a book. Children learn to understand other people and what they can do by hearing about the lives of others who persevered and achieved against the odds. The wonder on their faces never ceases to amaze me.

I have learned that people love to tell their stories. As a professor, when students came to my office hours to talk about an assignment or how they could improve their grades, I always asked them to tell me some things about themselves. I learned a lot, and in their stories, I saw what each had endured and their greatness. I just had to remind them that what they had already survived was proof of their ability to master the subjects in college and the workplace after college.

So, I tell stories in my sermons to connect my spirit with the spirits of my listeners so that they know they are not alone in suffering and hardship. I tell stories so people learn that if I can survive, so can they. I tell stories to introduce God to others, for the Bible is really just a storybook about God’s love and how one people, the Israelites, came to bless the whole world through their faith in God. The New Testament consists of stories about the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the Lord God in the flesh, for we all are the woman at the well, the man at the pool of Bethesda, and the blind men and the lepers, everyone seeking healing, cleaning, and the unfailing love of God.

Stories connect us to the world around us. I want to tell the stories that motivate us to love God with all of our hearts, minds, and souls. I want to write stories that help us to appreciate and love one another. I also want my stories to encourage others to appreciate their value and worth and, in doing so, love themselves, so they know how to love others.

I am a storyteller, and I love it.