THE POWER OF STORY

THE POWER OF STORY
Friday, October 4, 2024 by SALLY CARPENTER

Categories: Friday's Fiction / GUEST AUTHORS

PLEASE WELCOME

SALLY CARPENTER

MTO

FICTION FRIDAY

FROM THE AUTHOR

The Power of Story

The Christian faith is based on story.

While theologians define religion in philosophical terms and pastors might concentrate on the commandments, people relate to faith through story. We don’t recall all the words of the prophets or lost lists of proverbs, but we know the stories of the Bible. In fact, much of the Bible is written as story.

In modern times we think of stories as something made up and false (fiction), but among the Israelites, God’s way of working in the world was grounded in the salvation story. Stories were nonfiction history. The Israelites expressed their faith not as the holiness laws but in a story that began, “My father was a refugee Aramean, who went to Egypt” (Deuteronomy 26:5 NABRE) and continued with the exodus from slavery and entry into the promised land.

In ancient times, few people were literate. Without books, people relied on oral tradition to pass the stories of how God cared for the Israelites down through the generations. Stories are easy to remember. One can picture the families seated around a fire, the adults retelling the old tales to their children. Eventually, the stories were written down, compiled, and read aloud in the synagogues. Today, the most important objects in a synagogue are the scrolls, which are meticulously handwritten.

Not long after Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers began to collect and write down the stories of his teachings and healings. Luke kept a history of the growth of the early church. The book of Revelation comprises astonishing stories of God defeating of Satan and the arrival of the New Jerusalem.

The Bible also uses fiction as a teaching tool. King David sinned by sleeping with Bathsheba and ordering the death of her husband. Instead of accusing David outright, the prophet Nathan crouched his message in a fictitious story about a rich man stealing the one lamb belonging to a poor man (2 Samuel 11-12). When David expressed outrage at the rich man’s behavior, Nathan declared, “You are the man!” (vs. 12:7). David repented when he saw himself in the story.

Jesus frequently used parables: fictional stories that presented spiritual truths. His audiences, and often the disciples, didn’t always understand the stories. We can’t recite every teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, but we know the parables: the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, the Lost Sheep, Workers in the Vineyard, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Persistent Widow, the Pearl of Great Price and many others.

The stories we write today are not sacred scripture, but can still point the way to God. The trials and triumphs of our characters can inspire and educate readers, just as Jesus used tales to impart his truths. Storytelling is a grand endeavor that stretches back to the dawn of time when one man first told another of how God created the world.

ABOUT SALLY CARPENTER

Sally Carpenter lives in Southern California and has written eight cozy mystery novels published by Cozy Cat Press. The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper was a 2012 Eureka! Award finalist for best first mystery novel. She has a master’s degree in theater, a Master of Divinity, and a black belt in tae kwon do. She works at a public library and is writing a new cozy series. Reach her at www.sandyfairfaxauthor.com or facebook.com/sally.carpenter.54, or sallywriter05@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE HIGHLAND HAVOC CAPER

Former pop star Sandy Fairfax engages in a dangerous hobby—amateur sleuthing. At the Seaside Highland Games in California, he and his teenage son, Chip, discover more than their heritage. In a castle transported from Scotland, they find a body bludgeoned with a curling stone. But when they go for help, the corpse vanishes. Without a body or even a name, how will Sandy find the killer? As he and Cinnamon plan their wedding, more bodies pile up. A piper plummets from the castle tower and into the ocean. Another body is found behind a Scottish pub in L.A. And when Sandy takes a guest role on the Spook Spotters TV show, the worried dad must keep Chip safe from an amorous young actress. Whether you take the high road or the low road, can you solve the case before Sandy does?

buy link

https://www.amazon.com/Highland-Havoc-Caper-Fairfax-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0BX8P1GXV/

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