Story Telling...

Recently I applied to George Fox seminary to continue my education (and was accepted, no applause please.) As part of the application process I was asked to write a paper describing “My Spiritual Pilgrimage.” As simple as this might sound (I mean, hey, a pastor should be able to articulate his spirituality, right?), the process turned out to be rather difficult. I started the project no less than 5 times – and each time ended up chucking the whole thing. The words never felt right; never felt authentic.

It is amazing, I know. Imagine, me, without words! But, it’s true. Much to my chagrin (don’t get to use that word often) I honestly had a difficult time putting on paper my journey toward God.

So, being the self-aware person that I am, I have been asking myself the question “why?” Why was it so difficult to put into words something that was so deeply me? Why did the words come out feeling as though some other person wrote them?

I imagine it would take a team of psychologists to completely work this one out, but I have the beginnings of a simple answer in mind. When it came down to it, I had to ask myself – who was I writing this too? Who was going to read this and how was it going to impact their lives?

You see, to have a good play you need a theater and a crowd. To have a great concert requires fans and a stage. Story telling requires fire and an audience. There has to take place an essential give and take between storyteller and listener, band and fan, bard and audience. In the case of the writing of my spiritual pilgrimage – there was no clear audience; rather it was read by some anonymous group of people sitting around a boardroom table deciding my fate. What is more, there was no context for my story to take shape and make sense.

The telling of our stories as followers of Christ, or you might say the living of our stories, requires these two essential elements, audience and context, to make them come alive. Our audience is those we encounter on a day-to-day basis – our family and neighbors, co-workers and friends. These are the people to whom the good news is being spoken through our living. The context in which it is spoken is the present moment, the here and now: our culture, music, art and our social action.

In the end I did manage to write the paper, but only by giving an artificial audience and context to the writing. And, in the coming weeks, I plan to share parts of that Essay with you via this blog, in hopes that you will get to know me better, and, in the process, perhaps, get to know yourself better.

So my question for you today is: Can you articulate your spiritual pilgrimage? Where has God taken you? Where is God taking you? And, what does any of that have to do with the world around you – your neighbors, friends, co-workers and fellow students? In what context is God speaking Good News through your life, and to whom is He speaking it to?

Gather round the fire friends, and I will weave you a tail of wonder.