I Love to Tell the Story

When I was in high school someone once told me "You have a story for everything."   And I don't think I have changed much since then (at least in my storytelling).

The word story seems to be every where for me lately.  I use biblical storytelling for the gospel.  I use Godly Play methods in our education program which presents the bible stories with props for a more interactive and hands on learning method.  I'm on a committee that is forming a new ministry in Connecticut and my job on the communications team is to "help tell our story."  Next fall, Bethlehem while be using the Narrative Lectionary in which each week we will focus on a different bible story.  (Okay I know a lot of those examples are about bible stories but you know I am a pastor).

In some ways the word story seems childish because we relate the word often with fairy tales or children's books; adults read fiction or novels.  Or the word seems old fashion, related to myths and legends.  In the modern world, we care about facts.  Or the word has connotations of make-believe and fantasy.  I have in the past felt bad about using the word story and have looked for a different word because I felt it was too childish or that the subject of the story must not be real.

But I have come to accept the word story because I LOVE stories.  And I love being surrounded by stories and storytelling because stories are such a profound way of communicating.

• If people know a story about you, they are more able to relate to you.  By telling someone a story from your last vacation, they learn more about you than if you just told them where you went. 

• Through a story, you can simplify a complex idea into something much easier to grasp.  World hunger can be overwhelming if you are surrounded by facts.  But by sharing the story of one person who goes hungry, it become easier to realize that everyone can make a difference. 

• Through a story, morals are taught, ideas are shared, mores are dispensed.  Jesus taught through parables.  Many of us learned about the world through Aesop's fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales.  

• Stories can change.  I loved Choose Your Own Adventure Books growing up, because the story could change.  When you tell stories orally, they change each time you tell them.  Different words are emphasized, hands actions and gestures change, the tone of voice is higher or lower or louder or quieter.  The words you choose even alter each telling.  This is because stories are interactive, and the teller adjusts subtlety with each telling based on the listeners reactions.  Stories aren't set in stone, even when everything about them seems the same. 

So maybe we need to reclaim the word story, and realize they are an important part of how we communicate with one another and how we teach others about who we are, and what we believe.  And that stories are for all people to hear and tell because we all have stories.