Sacred Stories

The Power of Stories

“If you are a lover of stories, then you know this is true. A good story does not just tell you about something that happened once upon a time. It brings that time back to life so that you can walk around in it and experience it for yourself.”

Barbara Brown Taylor (Home by Another Way)

Every parent knows that children love to hear their favorite books read over and over. I remember one given to my older son when he was about two, called, The Diggingest Dog, that I must have read a thousand times. As soon as I finished, he wanted to hear it again. From time to time, I would hide the book on a high shelf, hoping to have a brief reprieve from reading it. But, I'm the same way. When I love a book, I hate to see it end. I think about the characters as though they were real people, and I miss them as I would a friend. I hold on to the book so I can read it again.

For the first few thousands of years of humanity's life on the earth, stories were told aloud—all the epic tales of great warriors, of magic and mystery, of fairy tales and myths, were told in circles around fires. Do you remember doing that as children? I do. Maybe not around a fire, but huddled together against the dark, we would tell ghost stories made up on the spot, that would scare the daylights out of all of us. We would want to hear them again and again, and every time we'd be too terrified to sleep.

The same oral tradition occurred in all our religions—stories of Gods, of saviors and holy people were told over and over, changed by different traditions, but essentially alike. In the Bible, one can find the same story told in different ways because there were several oral traditions, and the first people to set them down in writing wanted to preserve all of them. Sometimes the stories even contradict one another, but all are important to hear. Creation stories are a case in point. Every tradition has one. They are simply different ways of looking at an inexplicable event.

A good story tells us something that is true, whether or not it is factual. The ones that capture us, including fantasies, hold truth and power and can move us, and change the way we view the world. Stories are potent renderings of reality, that teach us lessons in ways that nothing else can. They are holy by their very nature. Our personal stories are the same. When we gather with family and friends, we tell stories of childhood, shared memories, funny events, liberally embellished to make them richer—we never tire of telling or hearing them. They, too, are sacred. What are your favorite stories?

                                                   In the Spirit,

                                                       Jane