Reviving Hearts Through Stories

The following is copy from a Bearing Fruit Communications brochure. It was written by a copy writer far more wise than I. It is beautiful. Enjoy.

Dialogue is the hardest thing to make happen. How much easier it is to fling an opinion into the air to someone who may, or may not, want to hear it. And then dodge the incoming opinions of others.

Stories on the other hand, transcend dialogue by inviting us to participate without having to debate or defend. Because of this, a beautifully told story is the most respectful and compelling way to communicate an idea.

Story has been at the heart of communication from the very beginning. Community, communication and communion are all derived from the same root word, which in the Greek is "Koinonia." It means "mutually beneficial fellowship." This has always been the greatest achievement of story. In ancient times, it was the storytellers who held communities together and imparted the values that were held as sacred.

The information age has created an explosion in storytelling as communicators desperately attempt to keep pace with the ever-expanding ways of delivering messages. Visual media dominates every facets of social relations. In this environment, a compelling and well-produced motion picture has emerged as the most captivating tool of communication today. Moral choices are reflected in the stories of every movie, and the characters within them. With enough frequency over time, the morality of these choices are gradually adopted by society.

The dominate stories produced in our media culture are void of scriptural truth. In this unrelenting environment, the perceived relevance of scripture has been on a steady decline. The Bible gave our society stories that provided a sense of the common good. As these ideas continue to remain absent from the stories our society shares, our culture drifts steadily away from understanding and benefiting from them.

The virtue of a message in no way assures it will be heard. A well told story of vice will draw a larger audience than a poorly told story of virtue. Given this, stories sharing scriptural truth must be told with art and insight that equals or surpasses the best productions of our time.

In the end, the meaning of the scriptures must be translated into compelling stories that are relevant today. This is not as difficult a task as it may seem, for this translation exists in the heart of every person who lives what the Bible says is true. The stories of these people reveal the remarkable journey of the human spirit as they encounter what happens when actions reflect scriptures. Telling stories invites others to find this relevance for themselves.

Living what the scriptures say is true is an incredible adventure beyond our comfort zones, that comes at a cost, which is the basis of all great and enduring stories.

"The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in." --Harold Goddard

"No other form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of our soul." --Ingrid Bergman

"There's a saying in the Jewish tradition that the shortest distance between man and God is through a story. So if storytelling is a journey, sacred storytelling is pilgrimage--a pilgrimage to a place called Hope." --Andy Fraenkel

"Jesus was never without a story when He spoke. When He was alone with His disciples, He went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots." --Mark 4:34 The Message

"Why was Solomon recognized as the wisest man in the world? Because he knew more stories than anyone else. Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we're all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories." --Alan Kay, vice president at Walt Disney