Story Telling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Story Telling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Musing Amma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-25T14:49:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-09-02T22:06:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/amusingamma\/files\/2011\/08\/images-150x1501.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"luxpickel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"luxpickel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/\",\"name\":\"Story Telling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-25T14:49:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-02T22:06:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/647133a561aca074e264536518f2b0e5\"},\"description\":\"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Story Telling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/\",\"name\":\"A Musing Amma\",\"description\":\"Gathering the pieces of our lives under the eye of the Holy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/647133a561aca074e264536518f2b0e5\",\"name\":\"luxpickel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07308168b9b67951854f96ff29f12cfc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07308168b9b67951854f96ff29f12cfc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"luxpickel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/author\/luxpickel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Story Telling","description":"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Story Telling","og_description":"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/","og_site_name":"A Musing Amma","article_published_time":"2011-08-25T14:49:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-09-02T22:06:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/amusingamma\/files\/2011\/08\/images-150x1501.jpg"}],"author":"luxpickel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"luxpickel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/","name":"Story Telling","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-08-25T14:49:35+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-02T22:06:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/647133a561aca074e264536518f2b0e5"},"description":"How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Story Telling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/","name":"A Musing Amma","description":"Gathering the pieces of our lives under the eye of the Holy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/647133a561aca074e264536518f2b0e5","name":"luxpickel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07308168b9b67951854f96ff29f12cfc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07308168b9b67951854f96ff29f12cfc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"luxpickel"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/author\/luxpickel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1917"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":437,"date":"2011-08-25T07:49:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T14:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/amusingamma\/?p=437"},"modified":"2011-09-02T15:06:25","modified_gmt":"2011-09-02T22:06:25","slug":"story-telling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/amusingamma\/2011\/08\/story-telling\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Telling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>How can I remember the things I have seen, the people I have met, the signs and wonders that I have experiences when I return from a pilgrimage of body and soul? Is there lasting value in being on pilgrimage? Certainly there are photos, postcards, brochures gathered. But the treasures of the journey become more deeply etched in my Spirit when I tell the stories of my journey, and what gifts I was given along the way. I am musing today on story telling as a spiritual practice. I am reminded that the woman from Samaria in the Gospel of John came running back to town after her watery encounter with Jesus, saying, \u201cCome and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!\u201d (Jn 4: 29), A story told gives life to our experience; a story heard opens the hearts and minds for others.<\/p>\n

The spiritual practice of story telling begins with deciding what stories to tell: what in my journey revealed the Holy? who reflected the image of God in a way I could comprehend more clearly? what words came into my awareness that expanded my repertoire of wonder, love and praise? what images from God\u2019s creation and human ingenuity widened my horizons, sparked my imagination? what enacted truths about the world and its cultures called me to pray and to act for justice more energetically?<\/p>\n

To whom shall I tell these stories? Not everyone wants to hear a travelogue, see thousand of slides, sit through unsorted reminiscences of all the places I found food. But there are those who are eager to be introduced into those places to which they have yet to travel. Stories can bring good news of things as yet unexperienced. Sometimes they remind listeners of places and encounters in their own pasts which have given life. A vision of possibility can arise from hearing of someone else\u2019s adventure of body and Spirit. Therefore, I await the openings of heart and ears from those who would love to hear a story.<\/p>\n

What words will I choose to tell my stories? Emily Dickinson has charged us to \u201cTell all the truth, but tell it slant.\u201d <\/em>My stories do come from my perspective, my lens, my happenings. But I can shape their gift by the words and tone with which I tell them: do I begin with all the hazards of the road? all that went wrong? or can I choose a perch of abundance from which to narrate the goings, comings and side-trips? I have been challenged this year in reading Marilyn Chandler McIntyre\u2019s book Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. <\/strong>McIntyre, a college professor , says in her series of essays that caring for words is a moral issue. Accurate and precise words enable us to tell the truth in love\u00a0better. With the earth and air packed with words of many kinds, so many trying to grab attention, we are all tempted to use the words that will stir up drama, slant the argument in our favor, capture the negative spin. I fall back on the old family adage of criteria for speaking: is it true? is is kind? is it necessary?<\/em><\/p>\n

The stories I am to tell are not just reserved for pilgrimages or past memories. My daily and ongoing story is a Spirit story that delights, informs, and encourages those around me. When I hear the stories of others, I am moved, challenged and blessed. The interplay of stories on the journey of Spirit helps keep us going, reminds us of where we are going and The One who accompanies us. It is through stories that I have come to experience and to know the Mystery we call God. It is through stories that I see the mystery of Spirit moving and healing through people and systems. It is the story of Jesus that reminds me of the concrete, on the ground, tangible Presence of the Holy in this all-so-fractured world.<\/p>\n

So complete my pilgrimage, I need to tell the story\u2013 of my encounter with the Holy, of the revelation of the Creator in forest, mountain and river, of the love of Jesus made clear in the faces of beloved ones. \u201cThis is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"