Are you a storyteller?
My good friend, Mac, has been a storyteller all his life. He has used that talent to communicate humor and interesting ideas, all with a moral, all with a lesson to be learned. Mac has for many years, journeyed, on a weekly basis, to the children’s cancer ward of Lutheran Hospital where he shares his stories and amazes the children with his magic acts. He has shared his talent from the pulpit as a lay minister and has given the children’s message with his stories. His is a talent we admire.
The truth of the matter is this: We are all storytellers. In our everyday lives we communicate in stories, in narratives that tell of events and feelings and happenings. We tell others of our children’s accomplishments, of interesting things that we have read, of travel experiences, of special moments that we treasure and wish to share, etc. It is through these stories that we reach out to others in support, in comfort, in fun, in communion. And it is through the telling of our stories that we communicate who we are, what is important to us, and our love for others.
Not long ago I came across “A Storytellers Prayer” that says, in part, that God has called us all be to storytellers, to be trailblazers, to be “fools for Christ’s sake…bearing life’s absurdities and puncturing our seriousness and grandiosity.” The prayer goes on to say that we are called to be “weavers”, tracing, stretching and connecting disconnected lives; and “poets” and artists, illuminators of inner space, heralding the presence of God in our very lives. The prayer concludes with this: Lord, you lavish gifts on all whom you call, that we may be catalysts of your kingdom in the world.
Recently I attended a Chapel service where the homily was given by an elder angel. Her message followed closely the life she lives, sharing generously the produce of her many gardens, as well as her time and treasure to causes as far-reaching as world hunger. She spoke of planting seeds and waiting expectantly for the resulting flower or vegetable, equating that effort with how we plant seeds by the way we live our lives and the way we relate to others.
I liked her message, and as I listened, I recalled a line from the Storyteller’s Prayer: “You call us to be gardeners: sowers, cultivators, nurturers of fragile lives; benefactors of your gratuitous harvest.” From that standpoint, we all are called to be gardeners.
Mac, the storyteller, reaches out and touches the lives of children who are vulnerable and caught up in the cruelty of the cancer treatments that could save their lives. In those minutes with the storyteller, as he weaves his tale, the children respond with smiles and laughter and their world gets just a bit brighter. There is power in his stories.
Research by authors Aaker and Smith for their book, The Dragonfly Effect, showed us that “the power of story is a profound one: it can help you connect with and move your audience”. The Dragonfly Effect describes how ideas are communicated through social media, conversation, and, yes, storytelling. Can it heal? Maybe. I chose to think that stories can have the power to heal.
Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” How you made them feel by sharing your story.
Yes, we are all storytellers, and weavers, and gardeners, and poets. We are God-gifted in diverse ways, yet, strangely, the seeds of our talents have common characteristics, they reflect our humanity. Our stories have the power to resurrect memories, to touch others, to relive special times. Those stories also describe the teller, that person’s characteristics and beliefs, what is important to them. At the heart, our stories communicate a life filled with meaning and purpose.
Does your story have power? Maybe its like the seed of a bamboo tree that is planted and only later will something good be produced. Maybe your story will encourage another story, and another, and thus the dragonfly effect is born. Does your story have power? You bet. Maybe it is time for you to tell it…
For What It’s Worth.
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