The Melody of Lent

 

You are invited to read prayerfully or sing the third verse of our hymn of the week:

I love to tell the story; it’s pleasant to repeat what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.

I love to tell the story, for some have never heard the message of salvation from God's own holy Word. I love to tell the story; and when I am in glory I'll tell the old, old story of Jesus' endless love.

We are leaning in and listening to the words of Kathrine Hankey’s hymn, I love to Tell the Story.  The third verse points out that we love to repeat and re-tell stories.  Each time we tell a good story, there is a new dimension to experience and explore.  This is true of scripture.  Each time I hear the Parable of the Prodigal Son there is some fresh, new, different – because I am different.  I hear word in a new way because this old, old beloved story is being filtered through experiences and encounters.  Maybe I hear how the younger son wandered away, thinking about how my kids will in just a few years will wander away to college.  Or I hear about the frustration of the older brother and I think about all the ways we as a people right now cling to our own anger and right-ness in our political/communal life together.  Or I think about the care of the father to go to both sons, inviting each to the party, how might I meet people where they are rather then where I am?

What stories do you repeat?  Are you always the hero or shero of your stories?  That is, do you always do the right thing and save the day when you tell a story?  Or are you always the bumbling and stumbling comic relief in the story?  Because the deeper truth is that we are both.  Do you only tell stories about struggle and stress?  Or do you share stories that evoke and provoke the prayerful healing art of laughter? 

Today, listen and lean in to your stories, especially the ones you return to when you meet someone new.  Today, you may want to even go and read a favorite Bible passage (like the Prodigal Son, Luke 15 or Psalm 23), pay attention to the ways your mind/heart/soul are interpreting the words of the story through your story.

Prayer: God help me hear the undercurrents of what I share as ways I am revealing the deepest truths about myself.  Amen.