Aril 27 is National Tell a Story Day. It’s a great day to tell a true story about your own life, a favorite fairy tale, a scary ghost story, or a fantastic story you make up on the spot. I love to tell stories, and for the few years my sister and I owned Lil Country Store, I was the ole country storyteller.
Oral Storytelling
Stories have been important throughout history. Before the invention of writing, the only history was oral history. Families and tribes passed down stories to their children and grandchildren, preserving history that would otherwise be lost.
Now that the written tradition has superseded the oral tradition, stories that are shared orally also need to be written down. As a young child, I remember sitting on the floor with my siblings and cousins at the feet of my grandfather. Grandpa would sit and rock and tell us stories of his days as a cowboy. That exciting history has all been lost now. Grandpa died when I, the oldest grandchild, was twelve years old. We all forgot those wonderful stories as we grew older, and when the generation before us died off, so did the stories.
Parables
Jesus, the master storyteller, told parables. These stories not only entertained but also taught important lessons. People understand and remember stories more easily than instruction. The people of Jesus’s time readily related to his tales of sheepherding and lost coins. Those lessons stuck in their minds better than if Jesus had told them that He loved them or that God cared about sinners. They knew how the shepherd cared for his sheep even at the risk of his own life, and they were poor folks who would search for a lost coin until they found it. Jesus’s listeners loved to hear Him spin His tales and learned the intended lessons from the parables.
Celebrate Tell a Story Day
Tell stories over lunch with your coworkers or attend a library storytelling event. Gather your family and tell them favorite stories about grandparents or other family members. Enjoy sharing favorite stories, fiction or nonfiction, with friends. Recognize how important stories are in our personal, business, and national lives. Whatever you do today, enjoy National Tell a Story Day.
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