I heard an old joke the other day. It goes like this, His life was so boring that when faced with a life and death crisis, he had another's life flash before his eyes.
As I thought about this, I began to wonder if what is behind this is the same as what is behind the fact that few of us intentionally choose to share our own faith stories with others. We are far more likely to talk about those of the "great" witnesses and martyrs of the faith rather then our own experiences. Why?
One reason could be that we have no stories. Another is that we have devalued our stories to the point that we believe we have no story worth others' hearing. A third reason is that we have never learned how to tell our stories. And a fourth is that we are uncomfortable in sharing these experiences for fear of others' reactions.
One truth about us all as to communicating who we are: We cannot not tell our stories. Even in our silence and in what we choose to talk about, we tell others who are listening our lives' stories.
If you have a story of faith to tell, celebrate it. Experience its joy. Let it flash before your eyes. Then you will tell it.
