Request for Stories

As keepers of wisdom have known for thousands of years, stories have a power to communicate concepts in a way that statements cannot. The context they provide brings the rich bright and dark colors of life to fill in the “black and white dictionary meaning” of information and theory. They allow us to “walk in the shoes” of someone’s personal experience.

Those at the first Bridgefolk conference at Laurelville in 1999 experienced this in a very powerful way and it was certainly one of the high points of the small group and meal conversations last summer at St. John’s.

One hope for the newsletter is that it can keep us in conversation between meetings and allow people who don’t attend meetings to be involved in the discussion. We would like to invite you to further this conversation by writing your story, or a part of it, for future issues of this newsletter.

I suspect most of us have a couple of conflicting emotions when an invitation like this comes up. On the one hand, we feel flattered that others are interested in hearing about our lives—but then we find ourselves thinking we’re being proud in thinking that, and that to be humble we should not talk about ourselves. We also confront the issue of how much of the truth about my life do I want to put out in public?

To counter this, think about how enlightening and helpful we have all found hearing others tell their stories, both in print and conversation.

Consider what it would mean to others to share things like these:

• When did you first sense a connection between the Mennonite and Roman Catholic traditions?
• What drew/draws you to Bridgefolk?

o Were you touched by something unexpectedly?

o Were you experiencing a sense that something was missing?

• Share a particular bridging or crossover experience.
• Some experiences may have been painful—the sharing of these can be especially helpful to others who have also had painful experiences.
• What challenges have you encountered in pursuing a Roman Catholic-Mennonite connection—personal, professional, familial?
• Have you been involved in any local Catholic-Mennonite activities?

When I was young, I was so shy that I wouldn’t ask questions in class, fearing being singled out or asking a “stupid” question. As I got older, and a bit braver, and began to risk voicing a question now and then, I was amazed how often someone would come up after class and say, “I’m so glad you asked that question, I didn’t understand it either.”

Give yourself the benefit of the doubt; you don’t know who will find your story to be exactly what they needed to hear. Sharing our experience with others can be one of the greatest gifts any of us can offer.

Pat Shaver