Books Make Great Christmas Presents

When I was a boy, I can remember going to the library each week at my elementary school. One day, after my mother encouraged me, I asked the librarian where all the learning books were. It was kind of a big question for an eight year old. The librarian, Mrs. Rodman, took me to a huge wall with floor to ceiling bookshelves and spread her arms wide. "Here are all the learning books." That captured my attention much more than the word "non-fiction." I stood there amazed at this wealth of information - biographies, science, history, music - it was all there. Since that day I've always had a love for books because of the information contained in them.

So it comes as no surprise that some of my favorite Christmas gifts are books. There's the Blood Sugar Solution, that I'm writing about on HackMyBloodSugar, and then there's another book about storytelling. This one is Stories That Stick by Kindra Hall. This is one of those books that both teaches a framework and demonstrates it over and over again. But each time is different and holds my attention.

According to Hall, a story that sticks is one that has four elements.

- An Identifiable Character

- Authentic Emotion

- A Significant Moment

- Specific Details

At the same time, a good story the stages of Normal, Explosion, New Normal. Basically there’s some kind of transformation going on. It’s similar to the change that happens in my Lenten Stories or the realizations you encounter in a good Easter story.

Another piece of advice she gives is to create a catalog pf your stories. Just start listing specific people, places, or things from your life (nouns) and use them as triggers to remember your stories.

This is the first post I’ve done since the Christmas holiday, but as you can see I’ve been keeping myself busy. There’s more happening over on my Facebook page so be sure to check that out. But most importantly, tell your stories.

Comments

Setbacks, Disappointments, and New Opportunities

Yesterday I received a phone call I had been waiting anxiously for. It was about a job I had put in for - and I didn’t get it. The person delivering the news was kind, and even encouraged me to apply for another position that, in her opinion, was a better fit for me. It is a different kind of job, would require a decent commute, and I’m not sure I have it in me to enter another process right now. This morning I got myself showered and dressed and put on my clericals. Even though I was home all day I wanted to shoot a video and hence the outfit. Somehow just dressing up had me feeling less dejected - like I still could do something I was proud of. I remember years ago when my dad was looking for work. Each day he put on a shirt and tie before filling out job applications. After the video I scheduled some more content, opened up my notebook, and started working on my plan. The ideas began to flow, time seemed to flow by, and before I knew it I had a pretty great outline for a ...

What’s In Store For The Future

I have some supply work this coming Sunday, and I’m excited to be in a pulpit again. The OT text is God’s promise to Abraham - how he was to become the father of many nations - that his descendants would be more numerous than the sands on the seashore or the stars in the heavens. That’s a lot of people. God made this promise so that Abraham’s offspring would be a blessing to the world. Because of the Jewish people we have a great deal of Scripture, and a moral consciousness that raised the world to new levels. What strikes me about this promise is how many people are involved. God counted on Abraham having so many descendents that they couldn’t be counted. This many people created a critical mass that influenced the rest of the world. Today in the Church we need another another critical mass. We need a critical mass of people willing to tell their faith stories. We need so many faith stories out there in the public space, to influence people in a positive, respectful w...

Jesus Christmas What A Celebration

We stepped out of the cold into the foyer of my grandparent's raised-ranch on 104 Washburn Drive. Kicking the snow off our boots we lined them up while hanging our coats in the front closet with the sliding natural wood doors. There was a little hole in each of the doors where you could grab onto to start it moving, and I swear on more than one occasion if I looked closely I could see a penny in there. On the side table my grandmother's small Church figurine sat proudly, lit up from the single bulb inside. Every year it was the same, and we wouldn't have had it any other way. We were first greeted by smell of tobacco lined walls, and the sound of Nat King Cole's Christmas album scratching away on the record player upstairs. "Hey come on up!" my grandfather bellowed from his easy chair in the living room. Even though it was a mere 15 minute drive from our house to his, his face always lit up when he saw us as if he hadn't seen us for years. My fa...

Search This Blog