"The story of God is the story of different levels of reality getting acquainted with each other," said the Story Teller.
He was passing on his story telling knowledge to a group of apprentices who had gathered for their spring retreat at his hut in the mountains.
"Many folk are not ready to hear this, so you do not need to state it so directly when you are telling stories at the nightly fires, but you do need to keep it in mind yourselves."
"Give us an example," said the story teller from Tanzania.
"In the story of God, the first man, the first woman, and the serpent," said the Story Teller, "you have four components or levels of reality at their first meeting, their first awareness of each other. They have to come to terms with each other.
God, who emerged from the Godhead (another story), is first on the scene. He has seniority. The others are his creation, came from his imagination. He imagined them and they came into being. But they were not quite as he imagined. Or rather they began to take on an independence of being and of action."
"I see," said the story teller from Arkansas. "There is a metastory."
"Yes," said the Story Teller. "One for you to keep in mind but not necessarily tell. The major stories that you tell, have been telling, are the ones that have been told repeatedly in the tribes that you visit. They have a cultural life of their own. No need for you to jump out from them and say they are embedded in a metastory.
To continue with the Garden of Eden story as an example, Reality begins changing as its four levels get to know each other. All four become different as a result of the encounter: God, the man, the woman, the serpent. The overall Reality thus changes. And so it goes. And so it continues to this day."
"God is evolving and all else along with him," said the story teller from Norway.
"Yes," said the Story Teller. "This includes us story tellers. As we become more deeply acquainted with the stories, we transform. Our story telling becomes richer, deeper, more satisfying to us and to those who hear. Interwoven in the fabric of each story is a Mystery that can be felt but not directly expressed.
Story telling is an art. We learn not only by telling the stories but, more importantly, by communing with the First Story Tellers, the Godhead and God. Let's take a break now and go do that."
They all got up, stretched, and scattered along the mountain paths, to their favored meditation / contemplation spots. The day was calm and peaceful and the stories they would soon begin telling blossomed like flowers in their hearts.
He was passing on his story telling knowledge to a group of apprentices who had gathered for their spring retreat at his hut in the mountains.
"Many folk are not ready to hear this, so you do not need to state it so directly when you are telling stories at the nightly fires, but you do need to keep it in mind yourselves."
"Give us an example," said the story teller from Tanzania.
"In the story of God, the first man, the first woman, and the serpent," said the Story Teller, "you have four components or levels of reality at their first meeting, their first awareness of each other. They have to come to terms with each other.
God, who emerged from the Godhead (another story), is first on the scene. He has seniority. The others are his creation, came from his imagination. He imagined them and they came into being. But they were not quite as he imagined. Or rather they began to take on an independence of being and of action."
"I see," said the story teller from Arkansas. "There is a metastory."
"Yes," said the Story Teller. "One for you to keep in mind but not necessarily tell. The major stories that you tell, have been telling, are the ones that have been told repeatedly in the tribes that you visit. They have a cultural life of their own. No need for you to jump out from them and say they are embedded in a metastory.
To continue with the Garden of Eden story as an example, Reality begins changing as its four levels get to know each other. All four become different as a result of the encounter: God, the man, the woman, the serpent. The overall Reality thus changes. And so it goes. And so it continues to this day."
"God is evolving and all else along with him," said the story teller from Norway.
"Yes," said the Story Teller. "This includes us story tellers. As we become more deeply acquainted with the stories, we transform. Our story telling becomes richer, deeper, more satisfying to us and to those who hear. Interwoven in the fabric of each story is a Mystery that can be felt but not directly expressed.
Story telling is an art. We learn not only by telling the stories but, more importantly, by communing with the First Story Tellers, the Godhead and God. Let's take a break now and go do that."
They all got up, stretched, and scattered along the mountain paths, to their favored meditation / contemplation spots. The day was calm and peaceful and the stories they would soon begin telling blossomed like flowers in their hearts.
Oh, wow. Steve F.
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