Let's pause a moment in our story. What is a story? We may think of a story as a flight of the imagination, that we (or someone) makes up. Consider the obverse: stories make us up. Stories create who we are.
You have your story. Your story of where you came from, of who you are, of where you are going. Yes, you say, but my story is real and true. It is not just a story. And here it is once again, the eternal bifurcation. Your story is real and true. Mine is suspect. Our story is real and true. Theirs is suspect.
You object. "My story is backed by data. I can prove it." Yes. You can prove it to your satisfaction (or it would not be your story). But you may not be able to prove it to someone else's satisfaction. That does not matter, you say. It is my story and I experience it as real. Exactly my point.
The story we experience as real creates who we are. Our story makes us up.
The story we tell ourselves is who we are.
Each of us has the power of changing our stories, of transforming who we are. The story we told ourselves at age 10 is probably not the story we tell ourselves now.
Some of us change our meta-stories, the large stories of the origin of the cosmos and its unfolding. We shift from Christianity to Buddhism or from Vedanta to Wicca. We may change our story yet again. Many believe the Science story for its power in producing tools for transforming matter. Some on the Zen path believe in the story of No Story.
I remember changing my story. I opened beyond my birth family and the realm of small town society. In the cool night air by a running river, I claimed the Sun as my father and the Earth as my mother, the wild foxes, the trees, the planets, the galaxies as my siblings and my cousins. The story claimed me. My life transformed.
Now back to our story. The Story of God.
You have your story. Your story of where you came from, of who you are, of where you are going. Yes, you say, but my story is real and true. It is not just a story. And here it is once again, the eternal bifurcation. Your story is real and true. Mine is suspect. Our story is real and true. Theirs is suspect.
You object. "My story is backed by data. I can prove it." Yes. You can prove it to your satisfaction (or it would not be your story). But you may not be able to prove it to someone else's satisfaction. That does not matter, you say. It is my story and I experience it as real. Exactly my point.
The story we experience as real creates who we are. Our story makes us up.
The story we tell ourselves is who we are.
Each of us has the power of changing our stories, of transforming who we are. The story we told ourselves at age 10 is probably not the story we tell ourselves now.
Some of us change our meta-stories, the large stories of the origin of the cosmos and its unfolding. We shift from Christianity to Buddhism or from Vedanta to Wicca. We may change our story yet again. Many believe the Science story for its power in producing tools for transforming matter. Some on the Zen path believe in the story of No Story.
I remember changing my story. I opened beyond my birth family and the realm of small town society. In the cool night air by a running river, I claimed the Sun as my father and the Earth as my mother, the wild foxes, the trees, the planets, the galaxies as my siblings and my cousins. The story claimed me. My life transformed.
Now back to our story. The Story of God.
So then, to change our story, we have to open beyond (what we know)?
ReplyDeleteMake it a statement rather than a question and you have a story.
ReplyDeleteI like how you transformed your story, George. A very healthy shift.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite times are when I get to tell the stories of my life :)
ReplyDeletehttp://garygraefen.blogspot.com/