I have a friend who is a storyteller’s storyteller. As I reflect, I realize that the most powerful stories he has given me do not involve many words. From my experience in growing from a listener to one aspiring to tell stories, there are several points that stand out.
Great storytellers love to listen and read. As I watch their behaviors, it is clear that listening to others tell their stories is at the top of their enjoyment list! Hearing, observing, and reading the stories of others is a passion from the heart through the mind and into ears, eyes, hands, and feet. Their behaviors is the opposite of the “dullards [who] never notice what you do; fools never do get it.” (Psalm 92.6)
Great storytellers reflect and consider. It is as if each needs to see and hear with the heart first! The result is experienced through their art – a heart expression on canvas, through photographs, in words, and in extraordinary ways one on one. Others see the external interactions in their lives. On closer inspection, one realizes that it is in the silence that they best hear the stories around them and in turned are inspired to stories of their own.
Great story tellers share because that is what they do. Each story is a gift from the one to the many. In love, community, and humility, it is shared for the reason that it is something that one must do, if only for her or himself.
You and I are in a story set on a stage far greater than your life or mine. It is easy to get lost in the big picture. The simplicity is that our story is the big story. We are characters that matter. We are gateways to understanding goodness, divinity, and hope. In our stories, the greater story is told. In our struggles, failure, and pain, the gritty reality of the world can be seen and felt. Equally so, in experiences of beauty, love, and hope, the endless possibilities of heaven today are discovered and potentially embraced.
