An excerpt on storytelling -and a beautiful reminder for us as we engage with the art of listening and telling:
“Story is not interested in ‘deep structures,’ in ‘abiding truths,’ nor in ‘exact proofs.’ It does not trade in ‘eternal realities.’ Thus our exposition must avoid all the solidity which appeals to myth and all the proof which rests on history. Story offers nothing that is absolutely certain, either by historical certification or by universal affirmation. It lives, rather, by the scandal of concreteness, by the freedom of imagination, and by the passion of hearing. It is concrete in telling about real people in a specific time and place who engaged in irreversible events. It is freely imaginative. The story can be told in more than one way. It has more than one meaning, depending on the way it is told and the way it is heard. The hearing must be done with passion. The listening community knows that the events now being presented may matter as much to ‘us’ as to the original participants. These stories are not timeless, but there is a coincidence so that the events of another time may loom with authority in the present time. Thus, the old concrete events may intrude upon and transform the present situation.
Story is concrete and particular, as is every good promise. But stories are also open-ended. They do not linger in the first moment of the promise-making. They have a career and can follow the promise. Stories can tell promises toward fulfillment.
And when the story is finished, both the teller and the listener are faced with possibilities, with the freedom that the promise may take more than one form of fulfillment.”
⸻
Citation:
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982. pp. 4–5
RenderBitcoin / Garrettstr 🌸
npub19r…rvdag
2025-04-23 19:17:33
Author Public Key
npub19rry2ghdcme42hy2h3kl0xfvx486cjy53pvsq5vrq7edfnaeqgrqprvdagPublished at
2025-04-23 19:17:33Event JSON
{
"id": "e085dba2623a73c1b3614ac3fe994fc42ce08eae2a8a8036f93cc622fc938590",
"pubkey": "28c64522edc6f3555c8abc6df7992c354fac4894885900518307b2d4cfb90206",
"created_at": 1745435853,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "An excerpt on storytelling -and a beautiful reminder for us as we engage with the art of listening and telling:\n\n“Story is not interested in ‘deep structures,’ in ‘abiding truths,’ nor in ‘exact proofs.’ It does not trade in ‘eternal realities.’ Thus our exposition must avoid all the solidity which appeals to myth and all the proof which rests on history. Story offers nothing that is absolutely certain, either by historical certification or by universal affirmation. It lives, rather, by the scandal of concreteness, by the freedom of imagination, and by the passion of hearing. It is concrete in telling about real people in a specific time and place who engaged in irreversible events. It is freely imaginative. The story can be told in more than one way. It has more than one meaning, depending on the way it is told and the way it is heard. The hearing must be done with passion. The listening community knows that the events now being presented may matter as much to ‘us’ as to the original participants. These stories are not timeless, but there is a coincidence so that the events of another time may loom with authority in the present time. Thus, the old concrete events may intrude upon and transform the present situation.\n\nStory is concrete and particular, as is every good promise. But stories are also open-ended. They do not linger in the first moment of the promise-making. They have a career and can follow the promise. Stories can tell promises toward fulfillment.\n\nAnd when the story is finished, both the teller and the listener are faced with possibilities, with the freedom that the promise may take more than one form of fulfillment.”\n\n⸻\n\nCitation:\nBrueggemann, Walter. Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982. pp. 4–5",
"sig": "f36c918121973a59eababa0198dbcc6b764929b2997f91256c1a065875782cc0e22bc0827f6823f282f8dc29dd93f44ff9e913b5a80373068ba71b80d290969c"
}