Stories

Taken some weeks ago during children's story time at our church. Click on the picture to more clearly see the intriguing variety of expressions.Dropping by Christianbook.com recently, I noticed something curious. Of the top ten bestsellers, all ten were novels. All ten! Here's what they were, in order of popularity:
1. Dear to Me, a love story set among the Amish
2. Someday, a story of a threatened marriage
3. Blessings, a love story set among the Mennonites
4. A Touch of Grace, an olden days love story set in North Dakota
5. The Forbidden, a love story set among the Mennonites
6. Sunset, a love story with older characters
7. A Sister's Test, a story set among the Amish
8. Dawn's Light, an end-of-time global catastrophe story
9. 90 Minutes in Heaven, a near-death experience story by a Baptist minister
10. My Heart Remembers, story of an Irish orphan searching for her siblings

Ponder that list for a moment or two.

What is so powerful about stories? And are stories more effective when talking about things of faith? When I went to Amazon.com, only four of the top ten were stories. At Barnes and Noble online only four of the top ten were stories.

My husband ventured an intriguing rationale during our conversation over lunch one day when I brought him these questions. He suggested that the more meaningful things in life, those things that we admit are beyond us as Christians, are best expressed through story. If you are humanist or an atheist and believe that we have full power to change ourselves or the world, you can write a how-to book that explains to people who they are and how to do that. But for the deepest things in this life, those times when it's a "God thing" going on, a story is the vehicle that can carry something deeper than a theory, fact or "how to." Or, as Fowler expresses it in his stages of faith theory about a child's attraction to story, "Meaning is trapped in the narrative."

When I was growing up, we used to have testimony meetings, times specifically set aside for people to tell what God had done for them. Those went out of style while I was yet young; I miss the inspiration of hearing people share these things. When I teach my Bible Teaching methods classes, I often begin by asking my students to share with me their spiritual autobiography. Not only does it give me a context for teaching them more effectively, but their stories so often build me up and encourage me.

There are some stories we won't be able to voice until the Kingdom, and for those I'm willing to wait. But to all of you who share bits and pieces of your stories, often with stumbles like mine, thank you for the stories. They help to light my way.