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To Be A Storyteller

October 21, 2010

A long time ago in a far away place there was a collection of storytellers; they traveled from here to there and further down the road. Sometimes they told their stories to large crowds; sometimes one-on-one. The size of the audience didn’t matter, all that was needed was a listening ear.

Some stories do not sit well on shelves, not the kind that are still alive. Not the kind that are provocative. These are the kind they told; the kinds of stories that mean something, even if you only knew it when the story rang in your ears long after.

Storytelling was their profession, and by profession I don’t mean one’s occupation whereby you support yourself; but the life and the act and the priority of weaving words together such that people can’t help but listen. Storytelling, in other words, was first. How important are stories? Are they practical? Are they necessary? Apparently they thought so because storytelling, to them, was not a once-and-a-while kind of thing; it was their life; or better said, it was life.

I would have liked to have been there; to have heard these storytellers “live.” Now I read about them; for example in Acts 4:33. It says that there was a grace upon them; much grace. What does that mean?

  • There was this “merciful kindness” on them. This seems to be prerequisite for those who wish to have a story heard. Stories can’t be forced on people; people have to want to hear; wanting comes from being welcomed in.
    * Grace, this outside influence, helped them tell stories that were holy. There are stories that are informational, and then there are stories that are transformational; their stories, as simple as some may have been, as ordinary as what just happened that day, landed on the souls of people. Even plain stories had a quality about them that wouldn’t go away; they kept speaking long after the storyteller had folded up his or her chair.
    * Grace fed the storytellers; strengthening them to keep talking, learning, loving, changing. The stories and their life became one. The stories changed their life and their life became part of the story.

May such grace be upon me; the storytellers of old put theirs in my hands and before they turned, left instructions: “To be continued.”

—Teresa Klassen (http://www.onebrownleaf.wordpress.com)

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Nourished

June 18, 2010

Nourished.

Isn’t that a great word? It has a green feel to it. Just saying it makes me think of that moment after the rain has stopped and the sun shows its face; the grass and leaves are lacquered and there is that smell of the earth in the air: nourished.

Read Proverbs 10:21 (NIV) this morning:

“The lips of the righteous nourish many…”

Isn’t it amazing what a word can do?

  • One word inspires; one word deflates.
    * One word cries; one infuriates.
    * One word enlightens and one confuses.
    * One word rescues; one abuses.
    * One word vows; one betrays.
    * One word go’s; one word stays.

(Hey, just wrote a poem)

The word “nourishes” in the original Hebrew has a rainbow of meanings: shepherds, feeds, cares, becomes a companion for, brings one to pasture and aren’t those all amazing things that one person can do for another?

  • A word can shepherd or guide a person.
    * A word can be like food to the hungry.
    * A word becomes care for the lonely.
    * Words between two people spell companionship.
    * Words guide people to healthier, sweeter places.
    * Words change lives.

Every day I have this power to nourish. Out of my mouth I can say something that goes right to the heart of another.

Now I feel so sad; how many words have I wasted? How many words have I misused? How many opportunities have I let slide by?

Every day I can be kind. Every day I can wish a complete stranger well. Every day I can say something powerful to my kids. Every day my words can be a rainfall to someone and by that one simple act I could pour life into their wilting spirit.

You want to talk about power? What power God has given to us to impact “MANY” with one tiny little tool; one thing we all have; one thing we don’t need any training for, any education, any experience, any permission, any appointment. Honestly, it’s like walking around with bags of money that I can give away; and I never run out.

I, the giver, never become poor.

—Teresa Klassen (http://onebrownleaf.wordpress.com/)

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