As the holidays approach many of us will gather with family and friends and tell the stories of our lives and of our families. We are storytelling people who pass down our shared and sacred stories from generation to generation. In telling the story of how you become who you are, and of who you're on your way to becoming, the story becomes part of who you are. It becomes your sacred story, the story of your brokenness, the story of your healing, the story of your resurrection.

One of my favorite shows is The Moth Radio Hour on NPR. If you are not familiar with the Moth, it is a curated program of people telling stories in front of a live audience. The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes. The Moth celebrates the ability of stories to honor both the diversity and commonalities of human experience, and to satisfy a vital human need for connection. It seeks to encourage communities whose stories often go unheard.

Jesus was a master storyteller, using story to teach and empower his followers to embrace a different way of living and being in the world. Jesus used the sacred stories of his time to empower those who were silenced by the powerful and elite of society. What if Church was more like the Moth and sought to encourage members of the community to tell their sacred stories? What if we sought to understand how our sacred stories are a revelation of the continuing story of God's work in the world?

"Many thousands of people had gathered. They stepped on each other. Jesus began to talk to the disciples... Then he told them a story...Peter said, `Lord, are you telling this story for us or for all the people?" ~Luke 12:1,16&41