I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about the power of a story lately. It is so hard to remember facts, bullets on a powerpoint, and for me especially statistics. But a story, everyone remembers, although not always accurately.
I wonder exactly why. I think it has something to do with all the the senses that engage, even through your imagination. Or maybe its because stories touch us personally. There is usually a part of any story that we relate to, we’ve experienced, or it reminds us of someone or something in our own story.
Tony Campolo has just published a book called “Stories That Feed Your Soul.” This book is more of a resource than anything. It is full of stories and categorized loosely by topics. For anyone who speaks or writes, it’s a great resource for illustrations. He has stories of the lives of well-known people, as well as ordinary people. I’ve heard Tony speak a number of times. He is a great story teller. He is basically offering many of his stories for all to tell. In reading it I’ve tried to learn more about how to tell a story in a powerful way.
I really want to learn to tell stories in a way that touches a soul. Stories are all around us, every day. God reveals himself in the stories of the lives of every person. I think I’m going to wake up each day for the next couple weeks and say to God “tell me a story today.” Then I’ll keep my eyes open for cool stories.
Thanks for the inspiration Tony!
