Forget What I Told You
I need you to forget. Because the stories are too sacred. And they need to be told with greater care than they have been. So, if I’ve seen you in the past 3 days and shared anything with you about Zimabwe – forget it. What you’ve heard are preprocessed smatterings of coping with a reality I’ve yet to fully come to grips with. I realized this this morning when I remembered the sacred, thunderous power of the stories we tell. Each day and perhaps almost accidentally we fall into telling our own stories. We tell stories about the funny things and not so funny things that happen to us on the way to work, school, the grocery store, the movies, church, a game… and on and on. We tell stories about the painful moments that sometimes seem to surprise and capture us until we can share them with someone we know will care. We tell stories to belong and to discover what gives us meaning in our lives.
When we tell stories about ourselves, we are often amazed to discover unknown commonalities that bond us quickly with strangers or deepen affections of friends (Anderson & Foley, Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals).
Your story matters. My story matters. But what if your story or my story couldn’t be heard beyond the immediate reach of your home or village because there was a much louder, dominant story being told? I believe these marginalized stories are precious tellings of a side of humanity we may not discover otherwise. I believe these stories need to be told. And I want to authentically and faithfully shout them from the rooftops. I want everyone to hear them and to somehow experience the redemption and responsibility that comes in knowing about the life and death of those in this world whose stories can transform us and bring us closer to God. We all have these stories to tell. Let us tell them with care.
I started this blog today for this sole purpose. I don’t know how long I will have the opportunity or passion to share in this way. But I hope it is for the time that is needed. And if you have a story you need to tell – either your own or someone else’s – please know you can share them here.
