Good morning, friends! This week, we’re going to be talking about stories. About speaking our own stories. About hearing another’s story. About listening in on the stories that are being told in the world, in scripture, in books and movies and so many other storytelling spaces. Stories are powerful. Instead of merely hearing a bullet-point sermon about something, we get to hear it deeply in the contours of a person’s life. The truth gets fleshed out in human experience. We are no longer trafficking in principles, but taking it all in through the power of a story. Our stories matter (even though many of us discount our own, in favor of the more extravagant and colorful stories that are often told!). The stories of our next-door neighbor matter. Our family’s and friends’ stories matter. The story of someone very different from us—in our own town, or on the other side of the world—matters. So, as we begin this week, pause for a moment and consider: when have you heard a story that changed you in some way? Perhaps it was reading a novel that awakened you to a particular dynamic in the world, in your own or another’s culture. Perhaps it was a friend sharing some piece of their journey. Maybe you got to join someone as they told their story of moving from dark to light, from the surface to the depths, from ache to beauty (and back again). What was that like? What was awakened in you in the process of listening, of hearing and seeing, of tasting and touching another’s story? What do you sense stirring in you as we begin this week?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2023-04-17 13:30:45 UTC