Dear youth ministry friends,
A question for all of us today:
When you are telling a story, what are you trying to accomplish?
I have long loved stories. As an English literature major, I had the privilege of being awash in stories throughout my undergraduate studies. And as a minister, a portion of my graduate studies involved poring over the Scriptures, mining for meaning, and learning how to embrace my identity as a holy meaning-maker.
Here’s another question:
When you are listening to a story, what are you trying to accomplish?
Both realms of my schooling involved listening too—we cannot catch the subtext of a novel or a person without truly listening for two things: what is said, and what remains unsaid. I am inclined to think that we are listening so that we can truly come to know others, and show love for them as they share.
I think an approach to answering these questions is to say that stories are, at their core, connectional. Both the telling and the listening have this goal in mind.
And yet. Poetic waxing aside: human beings are not nice, neat little packages of stories. Stories (at least, the authentic ones) are like people: complex, defying easy trajectories of understanding. Perspectives within stories differ. Interpretations of the “moral” of a given story might differ too. These are not simple categories. The best of our stories lean into this puzzling, layered existence.
Consequently, I am suspicious of those who claim full knowledge of whole swaths of people or cultures. Often, such individuals have stopped listening to stories from those people or cultures, favoring a more inside-the-box, easy to understanding stereotype or trope. When we fully embrace the art of stories, both their telling and their listening, we reject such ease, and instead begin to appreciate the journey towards understanding.
This month, the YMI is celebrating storytelling. The first week of February is National Storytelling Week. And in early March, we will welcome back Mark Yaconelli, who speaks brilliantly on this subject, and models authentic storytelling for us, as it relates to our youth. Feel free to join us for that webinar on Wednesday, March 12th. You can register for this event here.
In the meantime, youth ministry friends, I wish you every blessing in your ministries. As you engage with your youth, may we all ask good questions… not just of the youth, but of ourselves. As we share with them and listen to them, what indeed are we trying to accomplish?
On the journey with you,
Rev. Jill