We are shaped by our stories,
more than we imagine.
In the revealing of them,
we not only anchor our past,
but also form our future.
When was the last time
you volunteered a saga
of good news, joy, met expectation,
without concluding chapters
of disappointment, regret,
or wishing for the perfection
of what might have been?
In the telling of today,
we highlight the patterns
that will define our tomorrows,
so choose your stories well,
or your hell will slowly go by.
Nourish your sacred dreams,
'cause the ones you pick,
you will be known by.
© 2014 Todd Jenkins
Yes..great post. We ARE known by our stories. The hard thing is in the telling and in the interpretation. When I consider the way Mark's gospel ends, it is very different from the gospel of Luke or John. (the endings; Mark's original is full of fear..). Our stories and remembrances do shape our future...but I wonder how those who struggle to share their experience can find/stitch/ lift up the positive, soul strengthening aspects (which are beautiful and totally full-of-God and the good-heartedness of others) if they haven't yet fully processed the more negative aspects that no one, including the one telling the story wants to hear. It's hard, I think. Preachers and pastors are trained and blessed by nature to consistently point to the light/the beauty/"the well-being in process"-- the kin/dom come-- to the places where the light shines brilliantly and to the dreams and re-stitchings of God. Yet sometimes we are very uncomfortable with speaking or receiving the more challenging parts when we ourselves are struggling to hold to the good in the lives we see and serve.. So, then these stories might not get told out of fear that they will be misunderstood or be criticized. I am not sure if I have expressed what is a difficult quandary...Perhaps it is not a quest for perfection or perfect endings, but a quest for a peace that is helpful, true, and relationally sound and shows the struggle and peace? Dreams are sacred but we do not often share these openly. I can think of many dreams that could be viewed as nightmares and nightmares that could be blessed light./discernment..it sometimes depends upon who is doing the sharing, the interpretation, at what point in time, and whether we've been invited to the discussion/conversation before any kind of interpretation takes place beyond our own difficult discernment...
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct in pointing out that some of us have very painful stories, and we need safe and therapeutic places to process those. Without that haven, it is nearly impossible to hear, see, or tell any other story.
DeleteThe stories about which I mused are not those. I was thinking about the ways we set ourselves up for failure by expecting/demanding perfection, and by the complaining we do when life happens. If the stories we consistently tell are of our perpetual disappointment, the world we perceive will also be disappointing.
Yes, yes. That is true. Especially that last line, "If the stories we consistently tell are of our perpetual disappointment, the world we perceive will also be disappointing." I sometimes engage in a thought experiment: If we had a special set of glasses and we could see/hear reality as we would have it to be, versus seeing reality as it is, which would we choose? How would that change the stories we tell? Or would it? I think of people who wear trifocals or bifocals, adjusting their heads to see. The lens, I think, matters. And how we shape the seeing. Thanks.
DeleteHow true that is. Wonderful post.
ReplyDelete