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I come from a storytelling people. My Irish ancestors steal stories from every culture on Earth and make them their own. My Cherokee ancestors told stories around the campfire on long nights. My Scots, British, German, Scandanavian and Jewish forebears told their own stories and told them quite well. You can find them if you check out any decent library.
I'm pretty sure I got my storytelling gene from my Grandpa King. The way he told a story was like he was reciting poetry. The words had a rhythm and simplicity to them that engaged a child like me. They weren't fancy stories; no knights, dragons or fairies to be found in them. Just stories about his dog Old Bob and the skunk, duck or dynamite, his pony or his favorite cousin Alonso the original special effects guy. He'd follow up his stories with a piece on his harmonica like "Polly Wolly Doodle" or (my favorite) "I Never Loved Her Like I Loved Her Last Night in the Back of My Cadillac Eight." That one he waited till my grandmother was banging around in the kitchen and couldn't hear him before he'd do it. It was, therefore, our favorite song.
Like him, I tell stories like that - stuff that happened to me; stories like the time the motorboat almost ran over me and a canoe full of campers. That one was published in the Junior Guide magazine. Or there is the time my best friend and I were cliff climbing and he kicked loose a big boulder that nearly slapped me off the cliff. Stuff like that. Not everyone likes my storytelling, however, particularly if they've heard it a few dozen times.
Storytelling is a gift that can be very powerful (not to mention useful), especially in an argument. A friend of mine once complained that whenever we argue, I've always got a story that proves I'm right. The implication is, of course, that I make these stories up to prove my point. Not so! By the time you get to be as old as me, you've collected thousands of such stories. I just happen to remember most of them off the top of my head. I think my brain files such stories by subject. At any rate, your story collection shapes how you think and what you believe. We call that experience. It's the best way I know to discover the truth.
If you've managed to do things in your life, if you've stepped out of your comfort zone regularly, you've probably got a story to tell. If you've heard God's still small voice and said, "Here am I, send me," then you probably have a lot more interesting and illustrative stories than most folk do. When confronted by some deluded individual who insists he is right and that you must agree with him say, "Hold on there, Bub. I've got a story here and I'm not afraid to use it.
Grandpa, my favorite storyteller.
© 2019 by Tom King
