A Story to Tell
As a young man of twenty-one, it was my privilege to teach high school. Known as the "Year of Teacher Shortage," desperation gave me opportunity with only three and a half years of college. My academic path was not in a teaching direction, but my experiences as a newspaper editor and assistant editor of the college yearbook were needed to sponsor the high school yearbook.
Teaching four classes of English was my challenge. While I liked English, teaching it was only possible with Laila's help. Each morning she would go over the lesson for the day with me. I was a good teacher one day at a time.
Loving to write, I wanted my students to enjoy writing. However, I have found that most people seem to think they are not capable of writing, because "They have no story to tell."
The truth is that every person is a natural born story teller. Listen as people tell the story of an accident, adventure, death, or birth of a baby. They naturally weave the events into a story line, painting a picture with a series of events leading up to the climax.
Finding the key to each person's story telling ability is the challenge, though it is not a very great challenge. Listen to a person's heart. What does he talk about? Whatever the subject, his conversation is the story of the love of his life.
In a factory, I taught supervisors college level public speaking. Not one of the students had ever taken a college course. All of them were frightened by their employer's insistence that they improve their skills in talking with the employees under their leadership. One lady, reputed to be a great supervisor, would faint if put in front of even a few employees to make a speech.
Fond is my memory of asking her about her hobby: "Flowers," she replied without hesitation, "and yard work." A few weeks later she stood in front of the whole class giving a speech about flowers and asking for additional time to complete her story.
A person who has no story to tell is a lonely and discouraged person. Life has become stagnant and stale. Hope has died, and grey is the dominant color. Even a rainbow holds no wonder to the eyes of a person who has lost hope. Those who end up on the Street of Despair are most likely to suffer illness, accidents, and other adversities. It is not that negative things seek them out as victims, but rather that Despair leads them to become willing victims.
A person, who has lost hope for a story, mumbles incoherent words about the meaninglessness of life. He might even sound like Solomon on one of his bad days with 700 wives and 300 concubines: "Vanity of vanities…behold all is vanity…nothing new under the sun (what is has been)…the grave is the common lot of all men." Woe to those who follow Solomon into the darkness of morbid despair.
Ah, but this is not simply a treatise on telling stories. I have in mind a question for you -- the reader. What is your first love? What matters to you? What do you talk about? Take all the words you speak in a day. Add them up into a common sum. Analyze them. Give them a subject. What would the subject be?
Is there virtue to the subject? Is there passion? Is there a story that tells about who you are in the context of humanity? Do your words reveal to others your faith? Is it clear to others that you are a believer? Do the words you speak bring hope to others? Do the words you speak tell a story of your life as being meaningful, purposeful, and ambitious with strong faith?
I have known for many years a man who has talked of being a millionaire. He has thought of ideas that could have made a million dollars. He has started many ventures; however, he has too often soon forgotten an idea to pursue yet another dream. He grows old, having never made a million dollars.
Here is the question: Does your life tell the story of Jesus? Given a chance to write or speak your story, would it be woven with mercy and grace? Would your story be laced with times of divine providence intervening in your life -- sparing, saving and encouraging? Would the wonderful theme of salvation be built into the plot enrapturing listeners with the glorious news of a sinner saved by grace? Would the plot unfold as a story with each chapter being more exciting, enchanting, and focused on Heaven?
Truth is, you are writing the story. Truth is, the story you are writing is the story of what you love. The question is: Have you stopped to consider where and how you are expressing your love?
Hopefully, this letter will challenge you to insure the eternal quality of your story.
Prayerfully,
Pastor Bare