Stories

When Jane and I are in our car traveling between here and Delaware, we always listen to XM/Sirius radio and have that tuned into the E Street Radio channel. That is the channel that plays Bruce Springsteen all day, every day. Every so often there are celebrity D.J.’s and occasional call in forums. One of these call in shows is called The Wild and The Innocent. Once a month they allow the callers to tell their stories about Bruce; a show they have been to, a song that means something special, anything that is connected in some way to the music of Bruce Springsteen. As I was listening to these people telling their stories, I began to reflect on how powerful telling stories can be. In a way it is transformative work.
    Stories have power. Our liturgy is story; it takes us into the very presence of God and allows us a glimpse into the Holy that surrounds and feeds us. Frederick Buechner writes: “My story is important not because it is mine, God knows, but because if I tell it anything like right, the chances are you will recognize that in many ways it is also yours… it is precisely through these stories in all their particularity, as I have long believed and often said, that God makes himself known to each of us more powerfully and personally. If this is true, it means that to lose track of our stories is to be profoundly impoverished not only humanly but also spiritually.”
    When I listened to those people telling their stories on the radio, I was drawn into their joy and pain, their moments of connection and their moments of feeling lost. For many the music of Springsteen had in someway helped them to make a connection, had taken them to a place where they could find healing as well as a sense of hope. What I believe is that many people desire to tell their stories without fear. They seek a place that is safe, open and willing to hear and not judge. We all have stories, some funny, some poignant, some sad; all of them very human.
    I read recently that in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas they are doing what is called “Faith Sharing Dinners.” These are dinners hosted by parishioners where people are encouraged to tell their stories of faith. From what I have read many of these dinners have become places where, as Frederick Buechner writes, “God makes himself known to each of us more powerfully and personally.”
    As we enter into another program year, when we all get busy running around from place to place, maybe we all need to take a moment and just listen to one another. Hear the stories that are out there, listen for those moments of transformation, see in them our own story and how we have been changed. I want to invite you to share your stories as we seek to make connections with each other and God in our sometimes fragmented and hectic lives.