Unsuitable Stories
At this morning's Family Service the theme was welcoming Jesus. ("Whoever welcomes anyone I send, welcomes me, etc.") I used this as an opportunity for telling one of my favourite stories, The Lord's Blessing. (The greedy woman who sees her neighbour's hospitality rewarded by the Lord's blessing, "Whatever you begin this morning, you will continue until the end of the day", gives Our Lord and St Peter hospitality in order to gain the same blessing, and ends up confined to the toilet all day long.)
It was well received, especially by the children. I'm sometimes nervous about these stories: how will young listeners distinguish between the story that we want them to accept as true (literally) and the story we want them to understand as fictional, and extract what is (figuratively, spiritually) true from?
What I should remember is what the Lord said to me during my sabbatical in 2001: Trust the Story! I've been trying to do this ever since; but it's hard for anyone who has ever preached, not to want to gild the lily from time to time. It doesn't seem golden enough, the way Nature made it.
It was well received, especially by the children. I'm sometimes nervous about these stories: how will young listeners distinguish between the story that we want them to accept as true (literally) and the story we want them to understand as fictional, and extract what is (figuratively, spiritually) true from?
What I should remember is what the Lord said to me during my sabbatical in 2001: Trust the Story! I've been trying to do this ever since; but it's hard for anyone who has ever preached, not to want to gild the lily from time to time. It doesn't seem golden enough, the way Nature made it.
posted by Tony at 7/04/2004 01:14:00 pm
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