A STORY WITHIN A LARGER STORY
ABOUT THE POWER OF STORY
BY TOM LEWIS
Recently my wife Cathy & I were invited to serve as “Caregivers” at a
seminar held at Ashland Seminary on the subject of Formational Prayer
featuring Dr. Terry Wardle. What I’m about to tell you is the story of
something extraordinary and quite remarkable that took place…
It all began about a week before the seminar. I was beginning to feel
excitement anticipating what was about to happen. I felt honored and invited
into something wonderful and large and powerful. But I also felt
apprehensive and anxious. I didn’t have any letters that came after my name.
Who was I to think that I could lead a small group at this seminar and be
used by God to engage with His people through Formational Prayer? As the
day approached to go on this adventure, I felt like I was in a fog and couldn’t
see clearly. The morning we were to leave, the Holy Spirit brought to my
mind two verses and one story. This does not happen to me very frequently,
but that morning these three portions of Scripture came searing into my
mind with such ferocity that I knew God wanted to say something to me. As
I read them, it quickly became clear that all three of them had something in
common. They all spoke of A Way of Seeing.
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know
what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints.” – Eph. 1:18 (emphasis mine)
“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:18 (emphasis mine)
“When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed
it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened
and they recognized Him: and He vanished from their sight. They said to one
another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us when He opened up The
Story to us?’” – Luke 24:30-32 (emphasis mine)
I couldn’t stop pondering these three verses as we drove to the Seminary.
Something about the eyes of my heart and looking for things that are not
seen and recognizing Jesus as He opens up a story to me…I wondered what
I was walking into. As we approached the Seminary campus, the fog I was
experiencing began to lift. I began to pray, “Lord, open the eyes of my heart
to see the unseen and this story you want me to see.” Then something quite
remarkable happened. As I walked through the door where we were going to
meet with Dr. Wardle and the other Caregivers, something changed. I can’t
quite describe it, but something changed. It felt like I was waking up or
becoming aware of something. I felt like Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy
might have felt as they “stumbled into Narnia.” All of a sudden, they were
“Caught up in a story”…a Story of adventure and danger and battle and
beauty…a much larger Story than they were used to. They discovered that
they had stumbled into some grand Story that had been going on for quite
some time and now they were caught up in the middle of it as they were
quickly introduced to some very interesting characters, such as the “talking
beavers.”
As I entered the room, I was also greeted by some very interesting
characters. I approached a very serious white bearded man with suspenders
named Christian who reached out his hand and said “Greetings.” He was
very articulate and later became known to me as “The Theologian.” I then
shook hands with a stoned-faced Navy Veteran who I later nicknamed
“Senior Chief Walt.” I met a tall woman with glasses named Elaine who was
passing stuff out and seemed to have answers to everyone’s questions. I then
said “hello” to my good friend Chris, who always has such a warm and
welcoming smile. Then…I saw her out of the corner of my eye – she seemed
to have the speed of a cheetah and spoke just as fast. Like lightning she
came in one door – dropped some things on the table then picked some
things up and flew by me like a bullet and out another door. Her name was
Lynn who I respectfully called “BOSS 1.” Lynn was always followed by
another woman who was just as fast. Her name was Kim who I called
“BOSS 2.”
I felt like everyone else moved in slow motion when Lynn (who always
wore a dress) and Kim came flying into the room. As I looked around the
room for an empty chair, suddenly I saw him. He was hard to miss at 6 ft. 5
in. A distinguished, father-like professor named Terry with a grey beard and
a contagious smile. He was in the corner of the room surrounded by other
Caregivers who were all laughing at a story he was telling. Suddenly he
turned and looked at me and as our eyes met he winked at me and somehow
I felt welcomed and invited to the party.
As I sat down and began to watch the people in the room interact, I became
aware that I had stumbled into a story. But not just an ordinary story…this
story was more like an epic adventure that had been under way for quite
some time – perhaps years. It was a story of adventure and danger and battle.
A story of victory and defeat, tragedy and triumph, sorrow and great joy. It
was a much larger story than I was used to, but one that I felt strangely
drawn into. There was an evil Villain in this story who had taken some
people captive. But it quickly became quite clear that there was one
transcendent central character who was the Hero of this story. Although I
couldn’t see Him, I could somehow feel His presence everywhere in the
room. His name was Jesus and He seemed to be the topic of every
conversation in the room. I began to pray, “Lord open my eyes to see what is
really going on here. What is this that I am witnessing?”
Terry (who I nicknamed “Father General” because he is both fatherly but
also clearly in command) welcomed everyone and asked if each person
could briefly introduce themselves. Then something extraordinary happened.
As each person introduced themselves, they changed. Their face didn’t
change, but somehow they looked different. The best way I can describe it is
that they were each transformed into a valiant warrior. They were
transfigured into a team of elite soldiers like the Navy Seals or the Army
Rangers…seasoned warriors who were skilled and courageous and cunning
and dangerous for good. I was seeing into the unseen world. A world that is
even more real and weighty and dangerous than the world we can see. This
elite team of spiritual warriors was preparing for battle and now I was
among them!
As it came my turn to introduce myself, I became acutely aware of
something quite stunning. Not only had I been caught up in this grand epic
adventure story, but I also now realized that I had a role to play in the story.
I was now a part of this platoon of Spiritual Navy Seals who were suiting up
to go on mission together and it was electrifying!
One day during the mission I found myself wondering why this seminar is
so alluring, so compelling, and so Alive! What is it about Healing Care
events that are so intriguing to me? I have been to just about every event that
Healing Care offers and I am still captivated…and then it hit me…it is the
Stories. The Father General draws me in with Stories. Not only do the stories
he tells make the principle or theory come alive, but also how he tells the
stories captivates me.
Terry Wardle is a MASTER STORYTELLER. I can see his grandmother
rolling her cigarette in one hand while she cooks with the other hand. I can
taste the sugar cookie as she puts it in his mouth. I can smell the odor of the
skunk as his cousin puts the blackjack gum in his mouth while he kicks it. I
can hear his grandfather open the glove compartment to pull out the pistol
and the car door slam as he leaves his grandson alone to visit the neighbor
lady. I can feel the coloring book page as his cousin’s beautiful wife kisses it
and hands it to him. And I can also feel the intense humiliation when his
cousin embarrasses him in front of the whole family and he runs to hide in
the kitchen.
When my feelings and emotions are engaged through story and the right side
of my brain is awakened, it makes whatever principle Terry is teaching come
ALIVE! I counted over fifty stories that Terry told during the four days of
the “Basic” Seminar and although I may not be able to recount every
concept or method or principle he taught, I bet I could re-tell every story he
shared in considerable detail…Yummmmm…I can still smell the aroma of
sugar cookies baking in the oven.
As I continued to zero-in on the power of story and observe Terry and other
Caregivers throughout the four days of the seminar, it finally hit me. Seeing
into the unseen world with the eyes of my heart and being caught up in the
larger Story must have a lot to do with a way of seeing…seeing through the
lens of STORY. Perhaps a good question to ask is the question Sam asked
Frodo about half way through their journey when he said, “I wonder what
sort of tale we have fallen into?”
On the last day of the seminar, as I was walking in the hall I spotted a stack
of magazines published by the Seminary called “The Table” and on the front
were the words “the Power of Story.” I thought to myself, are you kidding
me? For the last four days I have been meditating on The Power of Story and
here this magazine has been sitting here all along. I picked up a copy and
found a chair by the fireplace and consumed every word. This was certainly
no coincidence. In this 18th issue of “The Table,” Dr. Shultz (ATS President)
introduces the reader to the power of story by telling one. Then Wm. Paul
Young (the author of The Shack) explores the power of Story by telling a
story through the lens of the eyes of Andrew, the Disciple of Jesus. This is
followed by an amazing piece written by Carol Rettew titled “Storytelling”
where she writes, “Of what story do I find myself a part. We are all looking
for a story that we believe will answer the greater questions of our lives.
‘Who am I? Where am I? What has gone wrong here? What is the
solution?’”
Finally, Dr. David Mann writes an enlightening piece on “The Healing
power of Story.” What I found interesting was that – sandwiched in between
all of these articles – was a full-page ad featuring Dr. Terry Wardle and
describing him as a well-respected teacher and author to which I added, and
Master storyteller.
Since the Seminar, I have continued to meditate and read about the power of
Story with fascination. John Eldredge suggests that Life is a story. Life
doesn’t come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way a story does,
scene by scene. Life unfolds like a drama. Each day has a beginning and an
end. There are all sorts of characters and all sorts of settings. Sometimes it
seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap
opera. But whatever happens, it’s a story through and through. Madeleine
L’Engle writes, “All of life is a story.” So when it comes to figuring out this
life you’re living, you would do well to know the rest of the story. When we
turn on the news, we are tuning in to a world of stories. Not just facts –
stories. Story is the language of the heart. What’s the world’s favorite way to
spend a Friday night? With a story – a movie, a favorite show, or a good
book. But it seems to go far deeper than just entertainment. Stories nourish
us. They provide a kind of food that the soul craves. Robert McKee, a
Hollywood screenwriter, says that, “Stories are equipment for living. We go
to the movies because we hope to find in someone else’s story something
that will help us understand our own.”
Daniel Taylor writes, “Our stories tell us who we are, why we are here, and
what we are to do. They give us our best answers to all of life’s big
questions, and to most of the small ones as well. Seeing our lives as stories
is more than a powerful metaphor, it is how experience presents itself to us.”
But here is where we run into a problem. For most of us, life can feel like a
movie we have arrived at forty-five minutes late. We find ourselves in the
middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, but most
often a confusing mixture of both. Chesterton had it right when he said,
“With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which
we are certain to misunderstand.” So wouldn’t it be amazing to discover the
Story in which you have found yourself and to find the answer to Sam’s
question to Frodo, “What sort of tale have we fallen into?”
I find it fascinating that most of the greatest stories ever told seem to follow
the same story line. Things were once good, then something awful
happened, and now a great battle must be fought or a journey taken. At just
the right moment (which often feels like the last possible moment), a Hero
comes and sets things right, and life is found again. It’s true of every fairy
tale, every myth, every western, every epic – just about every great story you
can think of, one way or another. Braveheart, Titanic, Star Wars, Gladiator,
The Lord of the Rings…they all seem to pretty much follow the same
storyline. Have you ever wondered why? Eldredge suggests that, “Every
story, great and small, shares the same essential structure because every
story we tell borrows its power from a Larger Story – a story that is woven
into the fabric of our being.” All of these stories borrow from The Story.
From Reality. There is a secret written on our hearts. A great battle to fight,
and someone to fight for us. An adventure, something that requires
everything we have. Something to be shared with those we love and need.
An Epic Story. Something hidden in the ancient past. Something dangerous
now unfolding. Something waiting for us to discover. Some crucial role for
us to play.
What if all the great stories that have ever moved you are telling you
something about the true Story into which you were born, an epic adventure
into which you have been cast? A story that has already been underway for
quite some time. A story of beauty and intimacy and adventure, a story of
danger and loss and betrayal and heroism. I am beginning to understand that
for far too long I have been living in a very small story of comfort and
control as if I have been lulled to sleep and am under a spell. Something is
drawing me to this larger Story of adventure, but to find it I am now
realizing that I must give up something. I must leave the predictable and the
tame and a life of playing it safe. To become fully alive, I must give up
writing my own story and accept my King’s invitation to join Him in the
larger Story where He is the Hero, not me. William Wallace once said, “All
men die, but few men really ever live. I now want to live more than I want
control…there is a mystery and a kind of unpredictability to this that is
somehow calling to me…and it feels invigorating.
In 2 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul seems to be saying that there is a way of
looking at life that helps us not lose heart by fixing our eyes not on what is
seen, but on what is unseen. Proposition speaks to the mind, but when you
tell a story, you speak to the heart. So it is fascinating that when Jesus comes
to town, He speaks in a way that gets past all of our intellectual defenses. He
tells a certain kind of story. As Chesterton said, “I am concerned with a
certain way of looking at life, which was created in me by fairy tales, but has
since been ratified by mere facts.” The best stories of all are ones that bring
us Eternal Truths, and these kinds of stories take the form of what are
commonly called parables – stories that bring you a glimpse of the eternal or
stories that awaken your heart to the deep truths of life. Christian professor
Rolland Hein says, “Myths or parables are first of all, stories: stories which
confront us with something transcendent and eternal…a means by which the
eternal expresses itself in time.”
“A sower went out to sow some seed…”
“A man fell into the hands of robbers…”
“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one…”
“There were ten virgins with ten lamps…”
“Once upon a time there was this Prodigal son…”
“One day a man was walking through a field and stumbled on a treasure…”
As Dallas Willard reminds us, Jesus is the most brilliant man who ever lived
and He chose to describe the Kingdom of God in story, through parable.
So if Jesus used story to speak to people, then…
C.S. Lewis explained that, “The value of myth, the value of parable, is that it
takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which
has been hidden by the veil of familiarity.” Dr. Curt Thompson, in his book,
Anatomy of the Soul, writes, “The Bible is so powerful in part because it
contains stories…which are told in the rich, messy, beautiful, tragic, hopeful
tapestry of the lives of God’s ancient people.” Dr. Thompson goes on to say,
“Moses is not simply asking the Hebrews to remember facts about the past,
which would involve only their hippocampus. Instead, they are to engage in
actions that integrate their right and left hemispheres as they recount the
story of the Exodus again and again…Hebrew families were shaped by the
telling of stories – not just the facts of the stories.”
As I continue to explore the power of story, I reflect back to times when
stories…modern-day parables in the form of movie clips…had a major
impact on my life and resulted in a significant turning point for me. One
such time was at an event called “Come Away with Me” when my soul
connected with two stories (two modern-day parables in movies) that helped
open my eyes to the effect of wounds from my past that had shaped me and
held me captive to lies and false beliefs about my identity.
The first was the movie The Lion King, which borrows its story from
Christianity. There once was a beautiful kingdom. But it was stolen by the
evil one. Its glory had been badly marred. Now it was time for the true king
to come back and restore the kingdom. But Simba – the lion heir to the
throne – doesn’t believe who he really is. His father was murdered when he
was young, and the enemy lied and blamed it on Simba. So he ran away, and
after years of losing heart, Simba winds up living with a wart hog and a
meerkat and becomes a worm-sucking omnivore whose highest ambitions in
life are breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then one night, Simba’s father Mufasa
appears to him in a vision and says, “Simba, you have forgotten who you
are, and so forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba…you are more than
what you have become. Remember who you are!” A veil is removed,
bringing freedom, transformation and glory. This story connected with me
and motivated me to go back in time in my story to uncover a wound that
had brought a false belief about who I was and invite my true heavenly
Father to speak to me in the place of my deepest brokenness and pain, which
allowed me to re-interpret my story in such a way that it brought freedom
and healing and a renewed understanding of my true identity.
The next story is from the Disney movie The Kid. In the beginning of the
movie you meet a guy named Russell who is about to turn forty. He is a
wealthy L.A. image consultant, a professional poser. Not only is Russell’s
whole life a sharp, well-rehearsed polished presentation, but he also bails
people out of hard situations by teaching them how to be professional posers
as well. As the film opens, it quickly becomes apparent that Russell is a
“royal jerk.” He is not married and has no close friends. He is cynical,
estranged from his father and has no memories of his childhood. He is
driven and successful, but he actually hates his job, hates his life and hates
people in general. One night (like the ghost of Christmas past), an 8 year-old
boy shows up out of nowhere in Russell’s house. He quickly discovers that
this boy is his 8 year-old self. The boy’s identity sparks a journey into
Russ’s past (his eighth birthday) to find the key moment in time that defined
who Russ has become. Together they uncover a wound that created a false
belief that shaped his entire life. There is a poignant moment that is
powerfully healing that leads to freedom and life.
The reason this story had such a profound effect on me at the Come Away
with Me retreat was because I WAS THAT GUY. I was Russ in the flesh. A
driven, type A, hard-charging, intimidating perfectionist. And although my
life looked very successful on the outside, inside I was miserable. I had a
good marriage, four amazing kids and a successful career. But if you were to
ask my wife if we had a good marriage, she would have said “not really…
because Tom doesn’t need me.” At the Come Away with Me retreat, I had
the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an amazing counselor (an empathic
witness named Neal) who helped me take a journey back into my childhood
to a moment in time when I made a decision to not need anyone. It was a
decision that was based on a false belief that I was all alone and that life was
up to me, which originated from a childhood wound (wounds). As I invited
Jesus into these memories, it propelled me into a journey of indescribable
freedom and healing as I was able to break agreements and vows I had made
with myself (and the enemy).
Since Come Away, I have continued on this journey of healing and freedom
by attending many Healing Care events and have come to understand one
very powerful truth – that he who seeks to save his life (living in a small
story of control and self-preservation, a story whose center revolves around
ME) – shall lose it. But he who seeks to lose his life for Jesus (choosing to
live in God’s Larger Story – an epic adventure story where Jesus is the
center of the story – the Hero of the story) shall FIND LIFE. When Jesus
spoke this to the Pharisees, they were focused on one thing…their own selfpreservation and safety. Jesus is far from passive as He addresses them…He
comes fiercely like a locomotive as He declares, that if you live your life
consumed by your own self-preservation where you are the center of your
story, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR LIFE!
God made us to live in an epic story – His story where He is the hero of the
story and we are His intimate allies on an adventurous and sometimes
dangerous mission to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free. I
long to be part of this larger Story – a story that is transcendent and noble
and worth fighting for! Something is calling me into His larger Story. I am
so grateful that God used some of His greatest allies, including Destry and
Sarah, Chris, Mark, Neal and Terry to come rescue my heart. Every great
story has a rescue…WHY? Because OURS DOES! The whole world lies
under a spell and God chooses to use intimate allies to go on a rescue
mission, the greatest mission in the universe – to restore the hearts of His
people. There are turning points that change the trajectory of our lives.
Graciously God has used Come Away and the Healing Care ministry to
disrupt my well-orchestrated, carefully-controlled, risk-mitigated life at just
the right moment. To understand that as a beloved son of the Most High
God, I have been caught up in something far bigger and far more wonderful
than I could ever imagine. As He continues to re-Father me and restore me
as a son, my heart is becoming free and I look forward to following it further
into the larger Story.