THE THIRD TRANSFORMATION

STORYTELLING

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.

That myth is more potent than history.

That dreams are more powerful than facts.

That hope always triumphs over experience.

That laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death."

                                    Robert L. Fulgham[15]

The Tradition of Storytelling is closely related to Myth Making in that it relies on the substance of the Myths by which we live to provide stories to tell.  These myths are contained in what could best be termed, "memories", which take the form of stories.

Stated another way, the Christian Community is a "Community of Memory".  The memory which the Christian Community holds is the memory of the acts of God in human history. 

The mission of the Church is to Preserve, Nurture, and Proclaim the MEMORY.  In the Pentecost event the Christian Community is given the means ("foreign tongues") and are embolden by the Holy Spirit to carry out that mission.  That memory is conveyed in STORY. 

Who does not enjoy a good story?  Our conversations are peppered with expressions like, "did you hear the one about...?" and "...that reminds me of the story about...".  We cannot help but tell stories because we humans are an incurable storytelling people.

Storytelling is more complex than merely repeating something in a narrative form, however.  Storytelling has several aspects to it.

The first of these is the EXPERIENCE itself, the actual encounter upon which a particular story is based.  When telling of personal experience it is a fairly simple matter, "while I was riding home on the bus tonight, thus and so happened to me".  If, on the other hand, the story is based on the experience of someone else the situation becomes a bit more problematic.  Questions such as, "do I have all the facts of this story?" or "do I have all of the facts correct?" must be asked.  If the story is based on the experience of someone in the past it becomes even more difficult to tell the story because a new element is introduced - MEMORY.

When we think of the concept of "remembrance" we tend to limit it solely to "recalling".  Nostalgia is big business these days - remember the "Good Old Days" - that is what "remember" means to most of us. 

The Hebrew concept of remembrance is much broader.  It is not passive, but active.  It does not mean merely to "recall", but also to "act towards".  "To remember" signifies both thought and action.  It demands that one act as a result of remembering someone or something.  It takes the past and brings it into the present.  Acting in the present then thrusts a person into the future.  "Remembrance" then is both backward and forward looking at the same time.  It provides the rememberer the opportunity to reach back into the past and forward into the future and to pull them both into the present. 

An example might be helpful:

The Exodus is the constitutive event (MEMORY) in the history of Israel.  In the Exodus Israel has her beginnings; all of her history starts here.  But it is the ritual "remembrance" of the Exodus that has, more than anything else, caused Judaism to survive through today. 

Not only Jewish history, but Jewish spirituality and Jewish culture as well are exemplified most explicitly in the Passover celebration.  For on the night of the Seder that foundation of Jewish culture - the family - gathers together to "remember" the events of their liberation from Egypt.  When the father tells his son the story of the liberation from slavery in Egypt, as commanded in Exodus 13:8, the words he uses are,

"WE were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord our God brought US forth from thence, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” 

This is the emphasis over and over throughout the Seder.  This attitude is exemplified most strongly in the words of the Haggadah, "It was not our ancestors only that the Most Holy, blessed be He, redeemed from Egypt, but US also did he redeem with them".  So"remembrance" in this sense is not merely recalling an event which took place in the past, but is "calling to mind" and event that is taking place in the present and will continue to take place in the future.  For the Jew it is the telling of OUR story.  And this is a story which demands action - "movement toward".  "The participants (in the Passover Seder) are called on to remember that they have had a past filled with the mercies of God, and that they owe much of what is most precious in life to the sacrifice of others, that the flavor of life is in the mingling of the bitter and the sweet, and that they should not sit at their ease, but should be dressed and ready for the journey, the hard journey that they have to make together with their friends and neighbors into the Promised Land".[16]

Remembrance then becomes and experience, a mind-set, an attitude towards life.

There is yet another idea in the concept of remembrance - that is the idea of remembering who you are, both as a people and as individuals.  The Jews remember in the celebration of the Passover, that God has a special relationship with the people of Israel, a covenant relationship.  Elohim is their God, who led them out of bondage in Egypt, and they are God's faithful, chosen people.  The idea of remembering who you are as an individual is summed up quite well in the ritual of Bedikat Hamez (the search for leaven).  "Some Jewish thinkers see hametz as symbolically representing those tendencies in man which arouse him to evil.  The whole process of searching for the hametz and eliminating it is a reminder to man that he should search through his deeds and purify his actions.  In the same way that the search for hametz always yields results, an examination of one's actions will always reveal room for improvement.  Life should not, however, consist of merely delving into the past, so when a reasonable search has been completed, what has been found will be rectified, and in this improved state the person will carry one until the process is repeated the following year".[17]

The ritual "remembrance" of the Passover each year also contains the idea of "renew" or "reaffirm".  There is much evidence in the Old Testament to suggest that there was a yearly "Covenant Renewal Ceremony".  This has been incorporated into the rituals surrounding the celebration of Passover.  In recalling and re-telling the story of the Exodus and thanking and praising God for leading US out of bondage, there is at the same time a "reaffirming" of faith in the covenant promises of God, and a "recommitment" to live according to that covenant.

Everything that has been said about "remembrance" in the Hebrew concept, can be translated into terms of the Christian experience.  Just as the Exodus is the constitutive event in Israel's history, the death/resurrection of Jesus is the constitutive event in Christian history.  In Luke 22:19, we have the same kind of command to "remember" this event.  Once again, it is not merely reflective remembrance that we are engaged in, but an ACTIVE remembrance.  We reach into OUR past and bring forward into our present experience the ongoing process of death/resurrection which we all are engaged in.  It is only in and through this death/resurrection experience that we have any sign of or hope for the future.  In one moment, the past, present and future are fused.  In sacramentalizing this moment we are pointing beyond the apparent reality of the present.  We point beyond mere recall; we point beyond even the symbol.  The Passover simultaneously symbolized and gave life to a reality - a sacrament does the same.  And that reality compels us to act accordingly.  It reminds US that we too have a past filled with the mercies of God, and that OUR lives too are combinations of bitter and sweet, and we are on a journey of faith that will require we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others on our way to the promised land.  We are called upon too to remember that we are "chosen" people who have a special relationship with God, through Jesus who died for us, and that because of that relationship we must be forward looking, seeking people.  Each time we gather to "remember" this great event in OUR history and retell the story, we are "reaffirming" our faith in the promise given to us in the death/resurrection of  Jesus, and "renewing" our dedication to live in accord with that promise.

The second aspect of storytelling is INTERPRETATION.  After the "facts" or details of a story are retold, reflection on their meaning takes place - "What does this story mean for me?  How does it impact on my life, and the lives of the people with whom I have shared the story?'.  

This is the collective phase of storytelling.  This is the point at which we involve others in the story by calling on them to reflect on the story and enter into the process of interpretation.  It is at this point that the story begins to have a meaning that transcends the person or persons who originally had the experience upon which the story is based.  It is at this point as well that the possibility begins to rise that a particular story may be able to take on a timeless quality.

The third aspect of storytelling is INTEGRATION.  This is the phase of storytelling during which the meaning of a particular story is connected with the other events of a person's life.  Questions such as, "How does this story help to illuminate my other life experiences?"  or "How does the meaning of this story help to give deeper meaning to the life history of a particular people?" are raised.

This could be called the "universalizing" phase of storytelling.  As a story becomes integrated into the fabric of one life or the life of a people, it begins to take on a universal quality that assures its preservation in the heritage of a family or a culture.  Many families, for example, have a story of a particular relative who experienced something that affected the life and future of the family in some dramatic way.  The story of that event is preserved through the re-telling of that story for sometimes hundreds of years.  The same thing happens to a people.  We preserve, through the continual re-telling, stories such as George Washington crossing the Delaware or the Boston Tea Party, because the meaning of these stories has been integrated into the very fabric of America and they help us to reflect on who we are as a people and what it is that we believe in.

Storytelling is a very conscious act.  It is a vehicle by which we not only preserve our heritage, but also "re-experience" the events of the lives of those who have gone before us.  We then reinterpret and give new meaning to those events, and integrate them into our own life history, making them real, present, and eternal.

As you can see, this is closely related to "Myth Making".  Storytelling has an outwardly directed quality to it, however, that myth making does not.  For, "All Christians are called to...witness." ("On Evangelization in the Modern World", No. 21).

Evangelization is Proclaiming the Memory.  It is something we must do if we are to be true to our Christian calling.  "...the presentation of the Gospel message is not an optional contribution for the Church.  It is the duty incumbent on her by the command of the Lord Jesus, so that people can believe and be saved.  This message is indeed necessary.  It is unique.  It cannot be replaced." ("On Evangelization in the Modern World", No. 5).

Evangelism is not just telling the "God story", however.  It requires the courage to be SELF-REVEALING.  Each of us must be willing, even eager, to tell others about the activity of God in our personal lives.

The model for the Storytelling Evangelist is Mary.  After her encounter with God in the form of the Angel Gabriel, she went immediately to Elizabeth to tell her what God was doing in her life.  There was no hesitation on her part.  Rather there was a strong desire to "tell her story" - to give witness to the Good News.

GUIDES FOR THE STORYTELLING EVANGELIST:

In carrying out the Christian charge to, "proclaim the Gospel to all nations...", the members of the Society are encouraged to:

1. Bear witness to their belief in and transformation by the Gospel in the example of their lives give to all with whom they come in contact.

2. Be courageous and seize every opportunity to tell others of the transforming power of God, and how it is at work in our personal life.

3. "Be doers of the Word, not just hearers only”.

In other words, you can't just talk the talk you have to walk the talk.