Telling Our Stories: My story 2 - Preparation

My story 2 - preparing to tell it

The writers of The New Parish (IVP books, 2014) state that part of the task that one needs to do to evaluate where one is at in preparation for moving forward in the area of beginning to work towards the neighbourhood or parish church is to write your story. They talk on page 123 of first listening to your own narrative. Indeed, regardless of where one is at in life or what one is facing, I think the words of these authors are good advice in telling us to look stories of our lives and what you can learn from them.

You are the product of your stories; they have shaped you, how you see yourself, the world and your place in it, so you need to know your story. It reveals who you are. In a sense, you become the story you, your life tells. You need to share the truth about yourself vulnerably, honestly questioning why you might want to suppress certain elements of your story. You might need to deal with less than pleasant aspects of your past life. Remember that all of this can be redeemed in Christ, Otherwise we have no hope. 

We also need to realize that to come to know our story properly and fully, this sharing of our story has to be done in community with others, as no one can develop true self understanding outside relationship, including with God. We also need to listen to the narrative of our place, Past and present. 

On page 127 the writers talk of listening to our story in the light of God's story, including scripture. Ultimately, when we do this, we can accept our limitations with gratitude and feel set free to take responsibility for who we uniquely are. It is then that we can really make meaning out of our lives and find vocational clarity. 

They talk on page 132 of three strands of the narrative aspect of one's life: the redemptive plot of God's story, the contextual settings of your place and the character of yourself in your story. In terms of having an adaptive presence, one that is open to change, one must listen, and discern, before acting. Sometimes we need to work on one of these aspects more than the other, and again, in community. 

As written on page 113, some of this reflection can also include looking at one's own denomination or tradition of Christianity, to see what strengths and weaknesses are there for the church becoming a neighbourhood presence. Then, we can look at areas such as environment, civic situation, education and economics.

I began to tell my story in part one. Actually, not having really taking into account the above and what follows, that was more of a reaction to what I have read in these two books, and others I have mentioned reading earlier, coming to some sense of vindication of what I have been about in my life as I understand myself at this point.

The author of Shrink, Tim Suttle, states of that's there are virtues that Christian leaders need to consider. In the first place, I have never really viewed myself as a leader. I remember how taken aback by was when a disgruntled fellow church member was the railing against the actions of our congregation's leadership in a certain area. This was in the lobby of our Church building and I was part of the group spoken to when the angry statement was made,"You leaders…”

The virtues Suttle writes about are (pg. 136) vulnerability, which he refers to as the cardinal one, cooperation, which he sets against competition, brokenness, patience and fidelity. I wonder if one should not also add humility and simplicity. A cursory glance at the chapters about the preceding suggests that these aspects are not dealt with at any length. Perhaps these characteristics of life are not really considered the virtues although I would certainly think their qualities to be pursued. Of course, in the sense, perhaps one cannot and should not pursue humility. It might rather be seen as the product of other aspects of the way one lives.

Suttle also writes on pages 103-105 about why memoirs or biographies, often autobiographies, are popular these days. He believes that it is in part because we are all looking not just for the story of our life, chronicles of facts and details, but for an overarching story that will help us make sense of our stories, our life. This would be the kind of story that the authors of The New Parish would be wanting us to know about ourselves. That is the kind of story I would like to try and write, with the hope that on completion of the process, recognizing immediately of course that it is never complete until one's life is over, so what should more correctly be said, is that as one begins to come up with enough of the story to make some sense, it will be helpful for myself and those around me.