There is a reason the Bible is known as the “greatest story ever told.”
Long before the printing press and the availability of the written word for all to access, our ancestors in faith passed down the truth of God’s beauty, wisdom, love, and mercy toward us through their own stories of encounter.
We know of our family history through the lived experience of those who wandered through the desert with Moses, who boarded the ark Noah built, who heard about the promise made to Abraham and told their stories through the generations. We know of God’s fidelity and redemption through the stories of the prophets who didn’t sugarcoat the infidelity of man. Yes, we know the facts—the number of cubits and thread counts and all the materials that went into the creating the ark and priestly vestments. More importantly, though, these stories reveal to us the heart of God the Father, who patiently and persistently calls His children home to Himself through the ages.
We hear Jesus use stories and parables to explain and unveil the Kingdom of God to his disciples and all who would listen. Even after the Resurrection, we see Jesus continue to patiently reveal the Father’s plan to those who, having witnessed the crucifixion, still couldn’t see the fulfillment of God’s promise through the risen Christ. More than this, we begin to know the heart of Christ, the promise of mercy, and the power of the Holy Spirit, through the stories of the Gospel writers and the first apostles. We witness the fulfillment of God’s promise through the experiences of those who walked with Christ on earth and continued to preach the Gospel following his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension— often to their own earthly demise.
The story doesn’t end there, though. Through the centuries, we have the stories of countless men and women who have continued to show us what it means to live out the Gospel, what it means to love God and neighbor, what it means to pursue a life of heroic virtue in imitation of Christ. We know the everlasting power of the saving grace that lies in Christ through His Church empowered by the Holy Spirit because of the stories of the saints throughout the last two millennia. We know the truth of the faith through their experiences and testimony. And yet, that, too, is not the end.
The story continues with each of us. The goodness of God continues to be proclaimed in the movement of our own lives. The fruit of Christ’s sacrifice for us—His tender mercy and compassion and love—continues to be revealed in our encounters with the steadfast sacramental life of the Church despite (or perhaps through) our suffering and wandering.
No story is insignificant. Each one is another chapter— however long or short—in the overarching story of God, the only story worth sharing again and again.
We would love to hear YOUR story of conversion. Visit chnetwork.org/submissions to see our submission guidelines, or email us at [email protected].
