Several
\nyears ago I had the honor of celebrating the life of a woman who had
\nspent her life as a nurse. \u00a0She was fiercely independent, had never
\nmarried, was wonderfully fashionable, and LOVED being a nurse. \u00a0At
\nthe end of her life, she had dementia, and it took almost everything
\nfrom her \u2013 knowledge of her loved ones, words, mobility, and the
\nrest. \u00a0All that was left of HER at the end of her life was one simple
\nmotion. \u00a0It was the careful, life-saving motion of surgical
\npreparation – washing her hands. \u00a0After she’d lost even her own name,
\nshe kept on washing her hands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I
\noften wonder what that piece of me would be \u2013 the one last
\nlingering aspect of myself that would go last. \u00a0Truthfully, I’ve
\nnever figured it out, but it feels like an important question.
\nSimilarly, when I am spending time with a person earlier stages of
\ndementia, I pay attention to what stories come up time and time
\nagain. \u00a0My theory is that those stories are core identity stories,
\nthey are key to how the person understands themselves. \u00a0As such, I
\ntry to notice what stories I’m telling repeatedly (hopefully to
\ndifferent people), and figure out why those are the stories I’m
\ntelling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Not
\nto give away all my secrets all at once, but I also pay attention to
\nthe phenomenon of repeated stories in groups \u2013 because I think
\nstories that more than one person tells are likely stories that
\nmatter. \u00a0Also, I find the nuances and differences extra interesting.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nstories that we repeat are the stories that are important to us. \u00a0I
\nsuspect there are at least two aspects to why we repeat them: \u00a0first
\nbecause they are part of how we make sense of the world and secondly
\nbecause we’re still trying to make sense of the stories. \u00a0Telling our
\nstories, and having others respond to to them, helps us figure them
\nout. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A
\nfew years ago I came across a distinction between two types of
\nstories we tell. \u00a0Most of us, most of the time, tell what this theory
\ncalls \u201cego stories.\u201d \u00a0Ego stories make us look good, focus on
\nlife’s high spots, portray us as having control in our own lives, are
\nwell practiced and linear, well told, and sometimes well spun. \u00a0These
\nare the stories of interviews, of parties with people we don’t know,
\nof invulnerability and image crafting.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The <\/p>\n The <\/p>\n All <\/p>\n The <\/p>\n In <\/p>\n In <\/p>\n I’ve <\/p>\n Have <\/p>\n I 1<\/a>\u00a0 Parker 2<\/a>\u00a0 Carol 3<\/a> 4\u00a0 <\/a>Newsom,
\nother option, according to this theory, is \u201csoul stories.\u201d \u00a0Soul
\nstories are the stories underneath ego stories, ones that tell about
\nboth shadow and light, suffering as well as gladness. \u00a0They have a
\nlot of twists and turns, including telling about when our plans were
\nundone by life. \u00a0Telling soul stories allows us to integrate the
\nfragments with the whole, in part because they are unafraid of
\nchange, fear, loss, failure, shame, mystery, passion, or ecstasy.
\nThey are often told in poetry, music, or art. \u00a0They are the stories
\nwe hold onto in the hardest of times, and the ones most important for
\nour loved ones to know. \u00a0Soul stories are likely to be the ones we
\nare revisiting at 3 AM, or when we have dementia, or when we die.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\ntruth is that in most settings, soul stories are hard to tell. \u00a0They
\nmake us vulnerable, and they tell about things we are afraid of or
\nashamed of. \u00a0Yet, when we don’t tell them, they get told through
\nus without our awareness.<\/p>\n
\nof this thinking about stories started for me with the language of
\nJob and the desire in that passage to immortalize Job’s story. \u00a0For a
\nlittle context, we are hearing Job himself speak in this passage and,
\n\u201cSince Job has parodied and rejected the language of prayer (vv
\n21-22) and realized that his outcry brings no response or justice (v.
\n7) there appears to be no way for him to bring his words before
\nGod.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\nIn part, Job worries about how his story will live past his death.
\nThat’s what this is about \u2013 preserving his words as a testimony to
\nthe injustice of his life. \u00a0\u201cIt appears that Job describes three
\nmaterials on which his words might be recorded \u2013 scroll, lead
\ntablet, engraved rock \u2013 each more enduring than the last.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nphrase translated \u201cFor I know my Redeemer lives\u201d refers to a
\n\u201ckinsman redeemer\u201d, that is \u201cIt designates the nearest male
\nrelative, who was responsible for protecting a person’s interest when
\nthat individual was unable to do so. \u00a0The [kinsman redeemer] would
\nbuy back family property sold in distress, recover what has been
\nstolen, redeem a kinsman sold into slavery, or avenge a murdered
\nkinsman blood. \u00a0The [kinsman redeemer] is the embodiment of family
\nsolidarity.\u201d4<\/sup><\/a>
\n Now, just to be clear, this means that what Job was actually saying
\nwas \u201cI have a family member who will avenge me, and even after I
\ndie, he will be working for justice on my behalf.\u201d \u00a0And, further,
\nthe assumption is that the kinsman redeemer will be working towards
\njustice for Job against Job’s opponent: God. \u00a0Which is to say that
\nthis passage means exactly the opposite of what I thought it did when
\nI first read it. \u00a0It is NOT the same gist as the Psalm from a
\ndifferent angle. \u00a0This is a passage really angry with God. \u00a0(The fact
\nthat I missed this means I wasn’t really thinking about this being
\nthe book of Job when I read the passage, definitely a poor choice.)<\/p>\n
\nterms of understanding the passage, there is one more important
\npiece. \u00a0The very end is distinct from what comes before it. \u00a0The
\ncommentator in the New Interpreter’s Bible suggests it makes the most
\nsense to read it this way, \u201c’I know that my defender lives, and
\nthat at the \u00a0last he will arise upon the earth \u2013 after my skin has
\nbeen stripped off! \u00a0But I would \u00a0see God form my flesh, whom I would
\nsee for myself; my eyes would see, and not a stranger.\u201d \u00a0That is,
\nJob returns to his constant refrain in the book: \u00a0that he wants to be
\nheard by God, that he wants justice from God, and that he wants a
\nREPLY from God. \u00a0Even having his kinsman-redeemer fix things after
\nhis death, or having his story be immortalized isn’t enough. \u00a0He
\nwants to take up this issue with God directly. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nfunction, the book of Job is one long soul story, interspersed with
\nsome ego story assurances from Job’s friends. \u00a0Even God’s answers
\ntake the form of a soul story. \u00a0The yearning that Job has to have his
\nstory heard fits with the description that they are the stories we
\nwant the people we love most to know \u2013 and I think in this case
\nthat includes God.<\/p>\n
\nalways assumed that God knows my stories, in fact thats one of the
\nassurances of life \u2013 that even if I forget my own stories, they are
\nstill alive within the Divine. \u00a0But that means I don’t tend to tell
\nGod my stories as often, even though the telling of stories to God is
\ninherently good. \u00a0And, the book of Job is the great reminder in the
\nBible that God is big enough to handle our anger, and it is OK to
\nRAIL against God. \u00a0God doesn’t punish us for expressing our anger,
\nand God knows the injustices we’ve experienced, and yet we are
\nwelcome to keep on telling them to God as long as they need to be
\ntold. \u00a0Because God, of course, can handle our vulnerable soul stories
\nwith shadows and light, and doesn’t need or expect things cleaned up
\ninto ego stories. \u00a0This is sometimes one of the weaknesses of formal
\nworship. \u00a0When we have hymns, anthems, and prayers in poetic and
\nformal language it can lead us to thinking that God requires us to be
\nable to express the inexpressible. \u00a0When in fact, God can handle any
\ncommunication, including \u201csighs too deep for words.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nyou tried telling God your stories, instead of just going over them
\nagain and again in your head? \u00a0Sometimes it can really help. \u00a0For me,
\nit is most helpful when I WRITE to God (longhand!). \u00a0I keep a prayer
\njournal and I find that all the things swirling in my head and
\nsmashing into each other can be extricated one by one, examined, and
\na bit of order can sometimes be found among them. \u00a0Or, at the very
\nleast, I can find out what things are in conflict within me. \u00a0What
\nseems massive within, when written to God, becomes less heavy and
\nmore manageable. \u00a0I also notice, as I write, what themes I go back
\nto. \u00a0Which is helpful because it helps me to have a better idea what
\nmy version of handwashing might be. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nthought, before I did my research, that I’d be ending this sermon
\ntalking about the stories we have to tell of God’s goodness. \u00a0Our
\nversions of \u201cI know my redeemer lives\u201d before it became clear
\nthat was NOT God after all. \u00a0(Oye). \u00a0I do actually think those are
\nimportant stories, imperative ones even. \u00a0None of us are here without
\na good reason. \u00a0That’s just not how life works. \u00a0But do others in
\nyour church family know the core stories of your personal faith
\njourney? \u00a0Do they know why you trust in God, or what you are
\nstruggling with in trying to trust God, or why you keep showing up at
\nall? \u00a0Are these some of the stories you keep on telling? \u00a0(Why or why
\nnot?) \u00a0Those might be interesting stories to start telling \u2013 even
\nif they are soul stories and more than a little vulnerable. \u00a0So here
\nis your homework this week. \u00a0(Homework!?!) \u00a0Tell one member of this
\ncommunity one of your personal faith stories \u2013 why you are
\ncommitted to being a part of this Jesus-movement. \u00a0Together, these
\nare the stories we have to tell, and tell, and tell. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tPalmer and Marcy Jackson, \u201cEgo Stories & Soul Stories\u201d \u00a9
\n\t2012 found at
\n\thttps:\/\/www.clearpathcounsel.com\/files\/4313\/3029\/8683\/Ego_Stories__Soul_Stories.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\tNewsom, \u201cThe Book of Job\u201d in The New Interpreter’s Bible
\n\tVolume IV<\/i> ed. Leander E. Keck et al (Nashville: Abingdon Perss,
\n\t1996) \u00a0477-8.<\/p>\n
\n\t \u00a0Newsom, \u00a0478.<\/p>\n
\n\t478.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"