The Stories We Tell

In elementary school I learned that a proper story has a beginning, middle, and an end. Secondary school taught me about setting, plot, character, point of view and theme. Post-secondary education introduced me to higher literary criticism and subtle nuances of symbol and irony. As much as we know about story and understand that the stories we write and tell reflect the milieu of life and society, there is so much more about journeying through life that goes beyond anything a mere story could ever recount.

Sometimes the stories we tell simply reflect what we want life to look like. There have been many times when I find myself wishing I could scrape my story off the page and pick out all the messy, broken, painful parts and re-craft it into something more elegant, more perfect, less… well, less like real life.

For today, in spite of the sorrow and pain this particular day will always bring, I am choosing to accept that life does not have to be some beautifully scripted, happily-ever-after tale. It simply needs to be lived faithfully within God’s larger narrative of grace and redemption… every day and every page of it is a gift beyond measure.