No, this is not one of those stories about an awful dream you had about shopping at your local grocery store in your all together. This is a story about story-tellers.
Some years back I belonged to a story-telling group…we were given all kinds of advice but of course the best advice was “write about what you know.” Consequently I do not write about recipes, accounting and world events; the list is endless. But, I do have a pretty good memory about things from decades back, sad things, happy things and really crazy things. I hope you are enjoying these vignettes.
One of our instructors at the writing class advised us to “write naked”…no, please do not envision a group sitting around with nothing on but laptops. We were told to share with our readers our deepest thoughts and dreams; to expose our feelings and hopes and disappointments. That takes a good deal of courage and reams of time and paper (when we used to use typewriters.)
Your mind is full of questions…what to say, what to divulge and what to keep secret? Exposing your emotions, stripping off all the veneer you have laid on past events, sharing your inner- self … courageous work.
It was more difficult years ago, but there is freedom in being “older”. It is sometimes shocking to younger people to find that hidden behind the wrinkles and white hair is sometimes a silly little lady who loves to laugh and tell stories on her kids, who can wear with courage a vintage dress from the 70’s and still look “cool”…who has smiled in the face of adversity that many have never known.
Recently my grandson and I discussed what we clothed ourselves in during worship. He, a Ukrainian Catholic (about to be priest), dresses in robes etc. I am more simply attired, but actually in the presence of God we are all naked. We are his children and whether young or old he sees us, without “trappings”…our thoughts, our desires, our sins are all there…nothing is covered up.
No wonder we cry for mercy.
But exposed as we are, God still loves the creation he has made and clothes us with his grace. He grants us forgiveness and smiles at the simplicity of our attempts to recognize and respond to his greatness.
Each of us writes our own story that we present to the world, we just have to remember that we are presenting it to God too…and that He will decide the final ending.
Photo: “TheFaulknerPortable” by Gary Bridgman – own work, http://www.southsideartgallery.com. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
