Nouwen: Telling Our Story this Advent
“Waiting patiently in expectation does not necessarily get easier as we become older… As we grow in age we are tempted to settle down in a routine way of living and say: ‘Well, I have seen it all.… There is nothing new under the sun.… I am going to take it easy and take the days as they come.’ But in this way, our lives lose their creative tension. We no longer expect something new to happen. We become cynical, self-satisfied or simply bored.”—Henri Nouwen
I am thinking of the regular routine of so many seniors our age. So many think they deserve to rest because they have worked so hard for so many years. But I am learning there are many forms of rest. We can sit and talk or watch movies with our grandchildren. Eventually, we will tell them our story. This is one of our most significant ministries to let those who will live on after us know the story of our family. My experience is they may not be interested in hearing unless we are doing something together, becoming their friend, not just being their grandparent. My husband occasionally tells family stories as he takes our grandchildren to school. But, he doesn’t do it every day, or they might become bored! We can be storytellers while fishing or walking, hiking or crafting, fixing dinner, or eating meals together. Telling our family story gives our children and grandchildren roots that connect them to a loving God. It also helps us recount our own story and the purpose of our own lives and our origins. A good time for stories is at holidays, graduations, or birthdays where we share past times.
Do not be disheartened if family members are not interested. Consider writing or making an oral video of your story. Often after we die, maybe not until our family members are our age, do they become interested. My experience is that the older we become, the more we look for our roots. It is a way of grounding ourselves, connecting us to the earth from which we came and will return. At each telling our story, we, ourselves, find even more awareness.
As we share our story, we also become more and more aware of how a loving God works in our lives and the lives of our family at every turn, every day. We often only comprehend this when in time, we share our family’s history and recognize the pattern of how God and God’s love were, and are with us at every turn.
Family gatherings, such as meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas, are especially good times to hear and tell family stories.
Spend some time this Advent sharing your story, but first, listen as someone else shares her story to you.
Joanna. joannaseibert.com
