by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
Helping readers remember should be one of a writer’s primary goals.
When I asked, “Don’t you remember?” my son said, “No.”
My son and his family hadn’t visited our home in two years. His anger over something he thought we’d done, but hadn’t, boiled, so he responded by not talking to us or coming to see us. It wasn’t the first time. We had hoed that row before, even though the strained relationship lay heavily on us. We attempted to mend the hurt, prayed for him, and bided our time.
Finally, the ice melted. After seeing our son and his family at a few other family functions, we asked them to come over for Sunday lunch. We were giving them our bedroom suit, and since they had to get it, we thought this would be a good time to do a little fence mending.
After lunch, we lounged in the living room and told stories. They spoke of things they had done with their boys—things we had not heard. So I thought, Why not tell him things he and I had done when he was younger?
I asked, “Remember when?” and then told a story. He didn’t remember. I told another story, asked the same question, and got the same answer. Our daughter-in-law rolled with laughter over stories she’d never heard. Our son also laughed at the stories and the fact that he couldn’t remember the incidents.
When I finished five or six camping and hiking stories, I remarked, “You know, I didn’t remember you going with me, your sister, and your uncle that often, but I guess you went more than I remember.”
After several more stories, he admitted he remembered only small pieces of some of the stories. Some, he remembered nothing at all—even after I shared it.
Amazing what telling stories can do. Doing so can bring families back together and heal hurt feelings. It can also relieve stress and help members remember that, yes, we did spend time together.
When our son and daughter-in-law left, we hugged them and expressed our love for each other. Our lunch together began a new era in our relationship—one where past hurts, imagined and real, would slip further into the recesses of our minds to be replaced with good memories.
According to Paul, Timothy had something to remember: “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (2 Timothy 1:5 NLT).
Timothy’s grandmother had passed on her faith to Timothy’s mother, and she, in turn, delivered it to Timothy. Now, Timothy lived out his faith in a way that Paul and others recognized and commended.
I remember when my father told me of his faith and offered the same faith to me. And I recall when I did the same for my two children. Now, it’s up to them to pass it along to their children.
We often classify ourselves as either fiction or non-fiction writers, but regardless of our specialty, we should be and do both. Aside from books, many avenues offer us opportunities to share our faith stories with friends and families. Pay isn’t essential, and that’s not what we should be about anyway.
One of my dearest writer friends, a well-known fiction author, once said, “I’ve never been paid for writing anything. All I’ve received are my royalty checks.” But write, she does, as I do I, sharing our faith stories. The pay will come later.
But we can also weave faith stories through the threads of our fiction works as we create memorable characters with unique backgrounds and personalities. Hopefully, our readers will learn to love and identify with them. And maybe, just maybe, imitate their faith arcs.
Later in life, when someone asks, “Remember when . . .,” to one of our family members, friends, or readers, we want them to give a resounding, “Yes.”
Think of ways you can share faith stories with your family and weave them into your writing.
TWEETABLE
This is such a great article! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteFantastic article. What a great way to reconnect. Thank you!
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