Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin ...

 

And so begins any good story.

 

I have been sitting very uncomfortably in a remarkably uncomfortable chair for the last four hours and am now enjoying the luxury of a soft, cushioned, squidgy sofa.

 

When we're listening to, or reading stories, we want to be comfortable.  We want to snuggle down and lose ourselves in the stories.

 

I love stories.  I love hearing them, I love reading them, I love re-telling them, I love writing them.

 

I love (almost) nothing more than completely losing myself for a few hours in a good book.

 

I recently heard someone say,

 

Story is the essential human language and the earliest art form.

 

There is something about stories which draws us in and invites us into the tale.  A good story will stay with us long after the happily ever after.  Good stories get beneath the skin.  They sink into our hearts and become a part of us.  Stories resonate within us and connect us with others.  They draw us into a grand narrative.

 

Jesus was forever telling stories.  He told stories which drew people in and which stayed in their minds, long after the stories ended.

 

But we don't always listen to His stories.  In the Bible, Luke recalls how two sisters reacted differently to his stories:

"Mary [...] sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said.  But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do."

 

[Luke 10:39 MSG]

 

We have the same choice when it comes to Jesus' words and stories.  We can sit down and make ourselves comfortable and hang on every word He says, or we can get pulled away by all we have to do.  Too often I know that I am pulled away by my never-ending to-do list.  But how refreshing and relaxing it is to sink down into His words and make myself comfortable in His stories.

 

His story invites me and draws me in.  For He has the words of life.