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The Moral of Our Story

By October 31, 2010 All Blog Posts, Tea & Empathy

The following is the full text of the November edition of my monthly column, Tea & Empathy, in the Redmond UMC Newsletter.  Click here to go to the RUMC website to download the newsletter.

I was recently asked to guest preach at Rainier Beach UMC, and the topic the pastor had chosen for the morning was “the importance of story.”  I was delighted to be given the opportunity to reflect on the importance of story in my own life, the lives of others, and of our communities.

This gave me a chance to reflect on my own story.  My story is full of joy as well as heartache, privileges as well as trials.  My story shapes who I am and who I will become.  But I’m not just a passive vessel in that process; I also have the opportunity to shape the story itself.  I have the opportunity to find out what the “moral of my story” is.

My undergraduate education was in Elementary Ed/General Science.  I wanted to be a junior high science teacher.  But after several years of subbing—and several unsuccessful interviews—I chose to return to school rather than focus my energies on getting a teaching job.  It is up to me to define the moral of this story.  I could interpret it as a failure or a lack of initiative.  But instead I choose to interpret it as part of my growing up process; part of the discernment that all young adults go through as they figure out “what they want to be.”  The gifts I gathered in my undergrad education and my days as a substitute teacher stay with me, helping me to be a better counselor, preacher, and teacher today.  The moral of my story is one of success, not failure, because that is what I have decided it will be.

What is the moral of your story?  How will you interpret the story of your past, and the story that is unfolding now?  It is my hope that you will see the ways you have been strong, the ways you have succeeded, and be gentle with the ways you have failed.  It is my hope that the moral of your story will include love, joy, and gratitude.

What is the moral of our story?  Our story as a faith community, a manifestation of the Body of Christ?  How will we interpret the story of our past, and the story that is unfolding now?  It is my hope that, as with our personal stories, our shared story will include joy and gratitude.  It is my hope that our story will include radical hospitality and welcome to our neighbors.  It is my hope that our story will include justice for the oppressed, liberation for the shackled.  It is my hope that the moral of our story will be centered in and encompassed by love.

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