The Power of Story

It’s in the Stories that We Tell and Hear….

It’s in the stories that we tell and hear that expand our understanding of self, other, and the world. I was reminded of this listening to Brene Brown on her 2019 Netflix show, “Call to Courage.”  She tells a story of swimming across Lake Travis with her husband as a ‘moment’ turned into a ‘thing’ between them by the time they got to the water’s edge.  Distance between them at this point seemed inevitable until they began to share with each other, “The story I’m telling myself right now is….” This led them to reveal how radically different they were each experiencing and interpreting their swim across the lake.  It was amazing to hear how differently they were experiencing this ‘moment’ between them.  Such different perspectives would have been shared if they hadn’t asked the question of themselves, “What story am I telling myself right now?” AND, if they didn’t have the trust between them to listen to the story of the other. How often does this happen between people
--whether partners at work or home, parent and child, neighbor, sibling, friends in faith and purpose, or total strangers? It’s the stories we tell ourselves and each other that shape who we believe we are as individuals or as community.
    We are delving into stories here at Coastside Lutheran Church--various narratives in scripture every Sunday as well as in written and dramatic word.  Our book group have explored story by Nadia Bolz-Weber in Accidental Saints; Mark Twain’s, The Diaries of Adam and Eve, and Osha Grey Davidson’s, The Best of Enemies, now in  film.  It’s powerful to find one’s own story emerging in the midst of another’s and to see one’s world broadened by the stories of others!  The barriers that can be broken down between people as they come to know each other’s stories is phenomenal and no simple task. It takes time and willingness by both parties to do so. Depending on our story, we have to consider who is trustworthy to hear and honor who we are and what we are experiencing. Not everyone is up to the task.  At least, not without support.
      I’ve always loved story--how it touches a place inside of me that seems to literally open my heart and mind! Therefore, I’m excited to be intentionally immersing myself in story within community. It’s actually what we do every Sunday in worship, in sermon, in our shares before, during, after. It’s one of my favorite experiences--to create a safe place for sharing one’s self in worship or small group opportunities.  We learn so much doing so. 
      Hence, it’s no surprise that I was touched by Brene Brown’s first TED Talk. She’s a Social Scientist studying vulnerability who decided to be vulnerable in her talk.  It changed her life. Her second TED Talk speaks of the experience. She shares how vulnerability is closely tied to courage and will affect our relationships as parent, partner, and fellow citizen in a global community.  I’m a big fan of interviewer Krista Tippett, in her show, On Being.  Her interview with Brene Brown spoke deeply to me in the midst of raising teenage sons. 
     My world continually expands as I hear any interview with Krista Tippett. I most recently heard the story of Wangari Maathai--biologist, environmentalist, and first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.  What an inspiration! The power of simply planting trees to change community and give opportunity for many, including plants and creatures of all kinds. It’s a story I didn’t know.  Learning about her and so many others, I am changed by the experience!  Whose story are you needing to hear to expand your world and way of living? What stories do you tell of yourself? Do they create an image of you that corresponds to the truth of who you know yourself to truly be? Or, are they misleading? If so, how do you feel about that?  What stories do you need to tell about yourself? To you, and to others? Where might you find people who can truly accept you for who you are, encouraging  you to step into the fullness of life, integrity, wholeness, and peace? I think of how comedian Hannah Gadsby in her show, Nannette, says good-bye to comedy to tell her full story.  Instead, she’s now an international sensation!
     I’m currently immersed in the stories of Jennifer Worth from her experience as a midwife in the East End of London in the late 1950’s.  What she shares in her memoir and how it unfolds visually in the BBC series Call the Midwife is astounding. Love, compassion, and understanding is inevitable as one becomes immersed in a world different from one’s own.  These midwives, both lay and religious, are bold, caring, courageous, generous, and gracious.  They and the women they serve, are unknown everyday saints/heroes who speak to me in a time where still today women have yet to be fully respected, valued, and received.
     I pray for communities, families, partnership, and friendships such as these.  I pray for a world where  LOVE is seen, felt, and experienced to the fullest, not just by some, but by all.  It may seem like just a pipe dream, but when encountering stories like these, one begins to wonder just what IS possible within humanity and this world we so easily take for granted.   

Guided by Jesus, 

Pastor Dawn Teuthorn