Tell me a fact and I will learn. Tell me a truth and I will believe. Tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. ~Old Indian Proverb.
We can ignore statistics. We can ignore the headlines and soundbites. But few of us can protect ourselves from the power of another’s story.
I was sixteen years old when I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. The book traced the history of western expansion in the 19th century not from the point of view of the explorers and settlers, but through the eloquent, sorrow-filled words of the American Indians themselves. The tragic tales of broken promises, ruthless greed and brutality beyond belief left me stunned.
My father still wryly recalls my frustrated angst dominating our meal time discussion. Every school research paper took shape around the topic. I don’t think statistics or a cold recitation of facts could have wrenched my conscience as did the simple words of other human beings with dreams and longings like my own.
I have since read other books, and other life stories have pierced through my self-deceit, so I know: There is power in another person’s story to grab us, wake us, and even save us from ourselves.
Everyone has a story.
Whose do you need to hear? Is there someone near you silently asking you to take a second look?
But not everyone knows how to tell it.
Some of us are hidden even from ourselves. It may be your voice we need to tell the world our tale.
Whose story has shaken you or wakened you?
