This little blue planet is quite amazing.  Even if there are other bio-able globes, we are super-blessed to be alive on this incredibly complex and beautiful sphere.

Sciences have shown many of the incredible features of life (the biosphere), from deep sea creatures that remind us of childhood monster stories to the meticulous “work” of bees in combs or beavers and their dams or spiders and their webs.  The chemistry of amoebas or viruses, not to mention the complex structure of cells, is breathless.  Still these are simply data.  They don’t really get to the essence and meaning of the bio-existence.  This is something that we humans are able to conjure: essence and meaning.  Science helps us (humans) to grasp in intellectual terms the physiological dimension of creation.  For meaning: enter literature, drama, religion!

Life is a story.  Human life is story…a story so unique that it deserves to be told and to be heard.  One reason that the gospel tradition embraces all kinds of life—all kinds of human life—is that no story is without worth, no human story is void of impact on the great narrative of humankind.  We are ultimately not the author of our own narrative or of the great Narrative; that is God’s purview.  Therefore, we take the posture of respectful listeners and participants in the great narrative.  This is not an easy ‘posture.’  Human capacity to choose (free will) makes us very mobile.  It is difficult to predict what will defeat a person or make her a hero because there are many capabilities in each human being.  Hence, far be it from us to determine which life is taken and which life is allowed to live; which life is valued and which life is left to dangerous elements.  With the adolescence of science—giving us tremendous power of options—it is all too easy to end that which “seems” unworkable or burdensome.  But this ends a life too soon; it curbs the great narrative before giving it a chance.

Have you told your story?  To whom?  How completely?  As a confessor and spiritual counselor I can tell you that people have not had enough opportunities to “confess” their story, especially the sin and the grace of it.  It is the gospel norm that we are invited to return from sin and to move on.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation serves as a wonderful context where an individual can share guilt and shame without retribution.  The hardest part of this Sacrament is letting go of the incriminating self-made image as a sinner.  True, history records my sinful event, but it is equally qualified to record forgiveness and restoration.  Salvation, the heart of Christ’s message of the Kingdom of God, is the expression of this experience.  And once confessed—e.g., let go of—the person is filled with an energy of new life!  Move on!  Create anew in grace.  Let the story commence.

The context for “story telling” is crucial.  Our fast-paced world does not linger long enough to listen to stories.  Sound bytes and twitters are merely the veneer of a story.  Church contexts for sharing story in a safe manner include retreats, spiritual direction, one-on-one talks, and faith sharing groups.  There are rules in these settings: safeguarding confidences, active listening, mutual care, and prayer.  If you have not entered such a context, please give it consideration.  You will be amazed at the power of your story and other’s story…and how the great narrative of Christ, crucified and risen, shapes our story’s horizon.  It gives us the desire and the courage to let life be lived.