JW: Between the Listening and the Telling

 

Saturday, my friend Anita invited me to attend a workshop presented by this author. It felt like a tectonic shift.

Held at a local Episcopal Church and funded by a grant, the author resides in Christian space but with eyes wide-open and uses non-sectarian language.

He is a brilliant storyteller, however, perhaps more importantly, he is a gifted "storycatcher." His specialty is eliciting healing stories in communities as extraordinary stories are told and heard by ordinary people.

My first thought was: I want to do that. Second was ... what if we focused the journal on stories rather than open ended writings which often turn to whining and ranting.

For a feel for him, Anita sent this video from church they made the next day. Skip to 15:28 to miss the church stuff. It only goes for about 25 minutes but the last story just broke me. I hope you watch it.

Interesting quote from conversation with Kurt Vonnegut:

"Listen. I can't tell you the storm is not coming. But I can tell you how to weather the storm. What you must do is form an extended family of your own. You will be discontented, you will be deeply unhappy if you try to go through life with too few people around you. If you have 15 or 20 people, you will survive whatever crisis you experience.

"Inside you can have courage. You can keep on going, doing what you can. In the coming storm, instead of going after money, go after companionship and community. Because human beings have always survived in extended families."

I think I'm missing a few.

More from author:

There is a depth to story that we rarely take time to ponder, let alone to tell and hear. Story is how we transform pain. Story is how we make something useful out of the absurd. A sacred story is a love letter, expanding your heart with kindness. Sacred story is a treasure box, filled with images of what matters most. A sacred story is a map, passed down through generations, directing you toward a fountain of truth. A sacred story is a medicine, a balm, to relieve your fear and suffering. A sacred story is an angel in the night. A sacred story is a window that offers perspective. Sometimes a sacred story is a shield, a protector, a source of courage and love. Sometimes your sacred story is what gives you strength to face the real and present dangers of our world. Sometimes your sacred story spends years searching for you, trailing you through all your harried days, cornering you in some blue fluorescent rehab center, looking you in the eye, and saying, "OK here's the truth."

EWR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEOxpWR9yQ0 

I think you are on to something here. I did listen to Mark Yaconelli’s  homily on the link you sent and then found this interview on YouTube. He’s coming out of the Parker Palmer tradition and has that same sense of earnestness and grit, but he’s very approachable and solid. I think this is worth pursuing. We may have to consider a Muti-media format since the power is in the telling and listening and I think it requires more than reading to make it come alive. There’s a bunch more videos of him and I think it maybe worthwhile to read the book and find out what other resources he can point us towards. I love it that he’s Episcopalian (Catholic Lite as they say) it makes it easier to listen to him.