The Word Guild: On Telling a Story

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

On Telling a Story

Robert Béla Wilhelm, founder of the School of Sacred Storytelling, writes in The Tell Tale Handbook, about techniques of sacred storytelling. He addresses the way a storyteller opens the story and how that teller gathers the listeners in and keeps them engaged. A single storyline is the key.

There have been times I wondered more about what took place in a scene, for example, the blind man who called out to Jesus. The “fixed point” is that the man wants to be healed and Jesus does that for him. In storytelling, we call this “the most important thing.” We don’t know what he wears or how he looks, but the storyteller gets the point across.

A hero, or heroine, once on a journey, will encounter obstacles to reaching their goal, and we follow them to that point. We can follow an oral story as long as there are not too many diversions. In a book we can go back and reread something we miss, but in oral storytelling, the storyteller needs to tell in a way that helps everyone listening to keep track of the characters and main happenings. A clear narrative line is the key.

Consider the story of the birth of Jesus. The fixed point of that story is that the star draws people to the stable to pay homage to the new baby, who is the new king of Israel (whether Herod likes it or not. We don’t hear about Herod in this part of the narrative). Think of the gospel story being read to an audience, or a storyteller delivering a story orally.

All eyes are drawn to Bethlehem where the birth takes place. Nothing else matters to that story, not how many angels were in the sky to announce the birth, not how many shepherds trekked to the stable or how long it took to get there, or even what animals were in the stable. All those things are left for the listener to imagine as the story unfolds. Only the fact that those people were part of the story.

An artist, poet, or screen writer, can decide what and how to illustrate characters and scenes, but in oral storytelling, the storyteller (and the gospel writer), strive to relay “the most important thing.”

Back to the story of Jesus’ birth, each listener will take in the story with their senses, by listening, seeing, and maybe even hearing their own version of the angel’s song, but the main point is “watch for the baby Jesus.”

Reread the story in Luke and imagine your own details as you follow the fixed point of the story.