The stories of our lives are both familiar and hidden. There are family stories that have been told so often that they become legends: stories of how people met, births, Christmases and ordinary days where something unusual happened.
Although we shape our own stories, the stories of our lives also shape us. They help us understand our families, our identities and what is important to us. Stories tell us important truths about faith, life, what we deem valuable and how we have come to view the world. They connect us with the past and give us hope for the future.
In Deuteronomy, the people of Israel learn that they are God’s people, that they are to love God with everything they are, and that they are to share this story with their children and among themselves, at all times and forever (6:4-7). This is a story that shapes human beings on every possible level. This cherished story shapes both Judaism and Christianity, telling us who we are and whose we are.
This message is excerpted from “We are story people” by Jordan Miller-Stubbendick in the July/August 2019 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), 1221.
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