God's Story is Our Story - May 24
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 25; PM Psalm 9, 15; Deut. 4:9-14; 2 Cor. 1:1-11; Luke 14:25-35
My mom has a pretty large family, all things considered. She is the youngest of six who all grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. We ended up in the south when my mother met my father on her last assignment in the Air Force. It’s weird to think, she has lived in Tennessee most of her life. Most of my aunts and uncles and cousins all talk funny, or at least that is how my dad puts it.
One time as a child, I was having serious questions about Santa Claus. I was convinced that the bells I heard as I fell asleep on Christmas Eve were really my parents outside or downstairs, and this Santa Claus figure couldn’t be real. I also recognized Santa’s handwriting, and it was eerily familiar. One evening over Christmas break, there was a knock at the door, and who should be there, but Santa. “Hello John,” he said as I opened the door. “I hear, you have questions about me, so I have come to say hello.” And then Santa gave me a little green pocket kaleidoscope and went on his merry way.
Santa left, but my mom and dad kept bringing him up. “Oh, he must be real! He sounds like he is from the North!” My dad was adamant that it had to be the ‘real’ Santa because of his ‘Yankee’ accent. Several years later, the culprit was announced. It was my Uncle Harold from Hyde Park, Vermont who had traveled over 1300 miles to play the role of Santa for a skeptical child. What’s even more odd is I don’t remember my Uncle Harold coming to visit. I really think he only came to play the role of Santa, but he must have spent some time with his sister and brother-in-law?
It’s the stuff legends are made of, the story that we tell and retell. I think my parents tell the story to show how eccentric my mom’s family can be, but I always thought it conveys a much deeper message of love and commitment towards our family. We do whatever it takes to love our family, even if it means traveling 1300 miles in a big red suit. But when we retell the story, it imparts the same ethic on the family: a commitment to love and support our family. By telling the story, we deepen our commitment to love each other.
I think that same principle is wrapped up in Deuteronomy as the Israelites are being reminded, “so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.” Stories are important because they pass down values and beliefs in a way that those same values and beliefs can’t stand on their own.
It's not hard to feel distant from the Biblical narrative. Much of it happened long ago in a world that can at times feel like another universe and at others, eerily familiar. But when we commit to wrestling with the story, day in and day out, more than anything, this practice reminds us that God’s story is our story too. It is to connect us to the story by helping us be a part of the story.
God has a story. And it’s our story too. And that is good news indeed.
John+
Questions for Daily Reflection: What stories have shaped you in your life? Are there family stories that impacted you profoundly? Where do you see yourself in the stories of our faith?
Daily Challenge: Stories are important. Here is a fun article to read to help you develop your storytelling techniques.