“Once upon a time…” those words have invited children (and adults who know what’s good for them) on journeys of imagination and excitement, suspense and hope, even courage and danger. There is nothing like a well told story to capture our attention, expand our vision and leave us transformed. Stories can also bring comfort and calm and I know one or two folk who listen to stories on sleep apps when they wake up at night, carefully chosen to settle and reassure us. And all of us who have been parents know that young children love being read to and especially hearing stories that include them in roles that shape events and show they matter.
We are a story telling people and one of the greatest gifts we can give another person is the time and attention to listen to their story, however mundane it maybe. I once had a friend who would take his young daughter to visit a gentleman who had early onset dementia. He would repeat the same stories often when they visited. One day my friend asked his daughter if she was okay about coming as she would hear the same stories again and again. She replied, ‘that’s okay, John is just telling us who he is.’
Or there is a story (!) of a famous Rabbi who listened at some length to a woman talking about her geese. When his disciples asked him why he gave so much time to this, he explained that her geese were what mattered most to that lady. As a minister I hear many stories and I learned early on to allow time for the telling of these and not rush things…except in Vestry meetings obviously! Our recent church magazine is an assortment of stories of different kinds, glimpses of life of church members and in our community. This is also why we are having a story telling evening to mark the first anniversary of the lockdown. This honours our journey so far and does what humans have always done in times of danger, to gather around the fire and tell tales.
And here’s the thing about stories, humans have been sharing them from the earliest days as a way of making sense of a world that often does not make sense. “Myth is a timeless truth that happens all the time” as someone wisely said. For us as Christians on the journey of Lent this is more poignant than ever. Here is what Francis Spufford had to say: We don’t have an argument that solves the problem of a cruel world, but we have a story. Or as GK Chesterton called it: The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Our personal stories are important so never underestimate how valuable they are and how much of a gift they can be to others. Don’t keep them to yourself. And it is in the story of God’s love and call to follow that our stories finally find their true place and meaning and value. Story telling helps us recover our wonder and reframe the world, opening us up to what may be possible after all.
