A World of Stories
for Preachers and Teachers
by Reverend William J Bausch
Bill Bausch is well known for his books on storytelling and preaching. His latest, A World of Stories, is a collection of profound tales arranged in a playful manner. In Bausch's preface, the opening paragraphs let the reader know exactly what he has to offer.
The tales are from diverse sources: literary, folkloric, personal. They are also a reflection of Bausch's broad familiarity with story sources and his good judgement in selecting and editing them.
I won't describe any of the 350 stories themselves, but I like his playful arrangement. He uses the metaphor of the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story to provide us with a sequence of long tales ("Papa Bear: Big Portions"), medium length stories ("Mama Bear: Medium Portions"), short tales ("Goldilocks: Snacks"), and very short anecdotes ("Baby Bear: Playful Fare".)
This is particularly helpful because all tellers tend to gravitate towards stories of the same length. We are each best at longer descriptive tales, medium dramatic tales, or short parabolic tales. Rather than arrange stories by topic and theme, which is ultimately a useless project anyway, Bausch puts them together by length. Now here is someone who knows the practicalities of giving a retreat, teaching catechetics, and preaching a sermon. One of the keys to storytelling is choosing the right length for a given occasion.
Bausch's last section, called "Porridge", is a collection of story-homilies that utilize stories and themes from other parts of his book. They are referenced to biblical texts and the lectionary year.
I personally like Bausch's storytelling. His range is very broad, and he has a strong feel for contemporary pastoral situations. But let Bill Bausch speak for himself. I've rarely seen such an effective opening for a book on sacred storytelling than his opening two paragraphs. In Bill Bausch's own words:
"Many centuries ago a rich sultan in Baghdad gave a banquet in honor of the birth of his son. All the nobility who partook of the feast brought costly gifts, except a young sage who came empty-handed. He explained to the sultan, 'Today the young prince will receive many precious gifts, jewels, and rare coins. My gift is different. From the time he is old enough to listen until manhood, I will come to the palace every day and tell him stories of our Arabian heroes. When he becomes our ruler, he will be just and honest.' The young sage kept his word. When the prince was at last made sultan, he became famous for his wisdom and honor. To this day, and inscription on a scroll in Baghdad reads, 'It was because of the seed sown by the tales.'
"This story is not much different from Matthew 13:34, which tells us that 'Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without parables he told them nothing.' Why? Because parables or stories are wisdom bearers. Individuals, nations, and indeed nations, for better or for worse, are defined and sustained by their stories. This fact causes some to worry because, as George Gebner of the Annenberg Center for Media Studies at the University of Pennsylvania observes, for the first time in our history the major stories our children learn are not from their parents, teachers, families, or their religious tradition, but from global media corporations interested in making a profit. This book, this collection of stories for preachers and teachers and all who love stories, is intended to redress, however modestly, this spiritually unpalatable fact. It is meant to provide preachers and teachers and just plain readers with stories -- over 350 of them! - that nudge, provoke and stimulate the spiritual imagination."
Now that is a good beginning. Bausch knows when to tell a story, and when to give commentary.
Copyright©1999 Robert Bela Wilhelm
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