CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 GUEST AUTHOR
is too hard. I think I should just give up on life”
...so she wandered out of the city and sat down on the dusty road just outside the city. She waited… and watched life passing her by. Before long a good-looking young man dressed in beautiful clothes arrived in the city and received a great reception. The people came out to shake his hand, hug him. They brought him food, drink and lavished him with gifts. The old woman said, “Life is so unfair. When you are young and good looking, everyone loves you, but when you are old, ugly and sick, they forget you and ignore
you...it is so unfair! After a while the young man gathered up his gifts and said good-bye and headed out of the city. He stopped on the dusty road, sat down opposite the old woman to pack up his gifts. The old woman could keep her tongue no lon- ger, “What is going on? What’s with you? Is it like this everywhere you go? Do you always get treated so well?” The young man blushed and said, “Well,
yes, I guess. Everywhere I go they treat me well.” “Why? Why? You must be someone spe- said
cial! Someone extraordinary,” woman.
the old
The young man said, “Oh, no, Ma’am, actually I am quite ordinary.” “I don’t believe it,” she said, “you must be
an emperor, a king, a prince or a general.” “Oh no. I am very common. You find me
everywhere—me and my type,” he said. “Well, then, what are you?” asked the old
woman, “that people are so happy to see you when you come along?” “I am a Story. And I think I am a pretty good story at that,” said the young man, “because people like a good story, and they are happy to see me. “But, old woman, what are you? Who are
you? Why don’t people like to see you?” the young man asked. “Ah, that is the problem,” she said, “it is what I am. I am Truth, nobody likes to hear the truth.”
The young man said, “I’m sorry about that.” And he began to think how he could help the old woman. “I have an idea, old woman,” he said. “Let’s team up. You and I can travel together and wherever I go, you’ll go. Anything I am given, I’ll share with you.” “That won’t work,” she said. “They’ll see
me. They’ll take one look and run away from both of us!” “No! You don’t understand. You will hide behind me! Hide behind my cloak. Whatever they give me, I’ll share equally with you. Let’s try it.”
12 | Jewish Voice Today NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 The woman agreed and they traveled
together. Wherever they went, the old woman hid behind the young man’s cloak and anything he was given, he happily shared it with the old woman.
And it worked out so well that their arrangement lasts to this very day. That is why to this very day the truth always hides behind a good story.3
What follows is a biblical example of truth hiding behind a good story. Imagine, had Nathan the prophet approached King David after his sin with Bathsheba and told him the abstracted truth, “You have committed adultery and murder, O King,” would the King have readily received this truth? Likely not. He may have rid himself of this troublesome prophet. He did not want to hear the ugly, naked truth. But instead of presenting him with the truth, Nathan told him a story,
“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” —2 Samuel 12:1-4 ESV
This story opened a window for David to vividly see the injustice. He became enraged and declared, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan said, “You are the man!” Nathan had opened a window, which became a mirror to David. Herein is the power of story to bring truth home. Suddenly, it is easy to see why about 70 percent of the Bible is in narrative form, with about 15 percent poetry and only about 10 per- cent in propositional (didactic epistolary mate- rial, laws) form.
Yeshua the Messiah, the Master Teacher, Was a Storyteller Yeshua was the Master Teacher and Com- municator of all time. In His wisdom, He
understood the power of story to teach, to impact and change lives: Jesus always used stories and illustrations when speaking to the crowds. In fact, He never spoke to them without using such parables” (Matthew 13:34 NLT). He adapted and chose his stories carefully in order to meet the felt needs of the am ha aretz (the common people of the land). And He knew how to deliv- er truth to the religious people—truth they needed, but did not want to hear, and would not hear unless it was wrapped in a story. He was an expert in using dialogue and questions in order to engage His audience and gain a response. Often we think that stories are for the illit- erate and uneducated. But Yeshua used stories with the common, uneducated folk, as well as with the most literate and learned of His day, the Pharisees.
A Storytelling Revival Those in the evangelical foreign missions
movement have been using chronological Bible storying for years in reaching non-literature peo- ples, who are oral learners. Expositional presen- tations (abstract lectures, outlines, steps, lists) are formidable obstacles to them. They have learned to learn differently, through story. Often it was assumed that storying was only for primary oral cultures. However, the postmod- ern turn in Western Culture is driving a story- telling revival here in America and in other Western countries. The advent of television, movies, and now
the digital age, has brought changes in our learning style preferences. The majority of the millennials, the baby busters/Gen-Xers, and even many baby boomers now prefer to learn through spoken and visual means rather than through the printed word. We have been condi- tioned to be more visual and oral by our iPhones, iPods, YouTube, and the social net- working media like Facebook. This new learning style by literate people
who prefer to get their information by visual and oral means is called “secondary orality.” They are adopting orality as their preferred communication style.
This phenomenon is
also called “post-literacy.” We may be rightly disconcerted about the loss of literacy in Amer- ica, but this turn also offers opportunities. Oral cultures have always been characterized by rela- tional face-to-face communication using sto- ries, proverbs, songs, chants, drama, poetry, and other forms of communal and interactive events. Western literate people are hungering for these elements in an increasing way. When a wave like this arises in our culture, we who
www.JewishVoiceToday.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28