Long, Short, Story

We’ve been around storytellers who know how to doll out the words to make their story last a long time. They paint all the details from their perspective, even when it means repeating themselves during the story or including tidbits from other stories.

If I’ve heard it once, I heard it thousands of time, “Well, long story short…” simply means someone is cutting to the chase (euphemism from silent movie era) which is simply “getting to the point” without all the fanfare, details, or storyline where we already know what’s going on!

Part of the problem of making a long story short revolves around the hearer getting lost and not knowing where the storyteller is coming from, nor realizing the end has arrived already!

The other part of the problem comes from the storyteller leaving out important snippets of information and having to backtrack the story to fill in the missing gaps.

All that being said, this “long story short” phrase came to me this morning while I was thinking through a particular situation that I need to handle and wondering if I could not simply speed up the project by cutting out the less important tasks. In other words, I wanted to cut the fluff and get to the core…(euphemistically speaking, of course!).

The other phrase that came to mind is related: “The long and short of it“. To me, this simply means that all that needs to be spoken or heard can be wrapped in a phrase, sentence or thought that is simply stated. Read between the letters and lines you see the big picture with as few words possible.

Here’s my thought this morning.

We come to life from many languages, thought processes, angles, perspectives, agendas, and desires. It’s difficult to bring everyone together for a common approach to any dilemma of life. Our solutions are varied and everyone clamoring that theirs is the best way and the other ways are a waste of time and effort.

We need some common clarity. We need to streamline our collective wisdom and knowledge and shorten the project life cycle!

We need a Solomon! Can you not hear him speaking a proverb of wisdom in a few simple words, and both sides of the coin can read between the words and lines, and coming from the same foundation all know the meaning.

Illustration: A group of card playing cronies would tell jokes around the table, except, they were the same ol’ jokes told over and over. Finally, they decided to number the jokes and simply call out the number. Since everyone knew the score (Number and associated joke), much time was saved. Someone would call out, “22” and everyone would laugh and scofflaw over the joke that was simply referenced by the number. One night, a card player called out, “77”… and no one laughed! A fellow card player leaned over and said, “Well, some know how to tell jokes, and others don’t!”

Some have the knack! Others are sadly lacking!

This brings me to my real point. A “long story short” can be told by anybody, but its success is largely dependent on the storyteller’s ability and reputation. To concisely share all the salient points, some just don’t have the ability to speak something long in a tiny bit of space and time, and part of this comes from their reputation and history. A long winded story teller, cutting to the quick to finish before losing the interest of the audience will only be successful if the punch line is delivered at the right time.

Think about Solomon for a moment. Considered the wisest man in scripture, and maybe even of all time, it’s not his intelligence quotient we are looking at, rather his ability to sum up great amounts of understanding in a few simple words.

In his last chapter of the book of Proverbs, he sums up much research and knowledge in just a few lines.

There are four things which are little on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.
(Proverbs 30:24-28 NKJV)

Notice. The ants are wise because they prepare in the summer for the winter months ahead, feeble rock badgers know to live in the crags of mountains for safety, locust do not go off half-cocked and seemingly all go the same direction without instruction, and the skillful spider is even in the house of kings.

Now. I wonder why Solomon felt the need to include these descriptions in his collection of wise sayings? Perhaps it’s just a reflection of his study of life, or perhaps they are applicable to the way some people are in life. Not wise they don’t plan in the summer for the winter, or live dangerously out in the open when they should seek protection, or scattered over as sheep having no shepherd, or not even having the skill to show up in the house of the king.

From Solomon, it’s no wonder that every long and short of a collection of words are deep and applicable on so many levels. This wise man knew how to shorten his studies so that even a simpleton could grasp his years of research and thought.

As he closes out his book that has been called Ecclesiastes (“one who addresses an assembly”), we find him like a preacher speaking to a church. His final words are very appropriate for my thought today.

And moreover, because the Preacher was wise,
he still taught the people knowledge;
yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.
The Preacher sought to find acceptable words;
and what was written was upright—words of truth.
The words of the wise are like goads,
and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails,
given by one Shepherd.
And further, my son, be admonished by these.
Of making many books there is no end,
and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 NKJV)

Think it through with me. We can write books by the gazillion, and study hours upon hours, but if we miss the main aspect of life, then everything we’ve accomplished is wearisome and wasted. If our life has not reached the conclusion established by the Wise Preacher, then we are spending a lot of time on the “long” part of the story, and not getting to the important nugget of the “short” summation of the story.

Fear God: This is not a quaking and shaking fear, rather it’s a respect to the Creator of it all. We are his creation. Let’s respect our time and attention in relation to who he is!

Keep his commandments: This could conclude all our focus in life to be simply obeying God, his words, his teachings, and the direction he has pointed us to.

For this is man’s all: Or, as the KJV states it, this is the “whole duty of man”. If our foundation is properly built, then the ends of our life will show our sons (the offspring of the Preacher) what was most important in life.

The main problem is that we do not live like this. We pick and choose to live life our own way for decades, and leave out the foundation blocks that, were we all on the same page, would accomplish God ordained, and God established story lines.

The words Solomon ends with, should be the words we start life with. And this is the Long Story Short, and the Long and Short of it: Fear God. Keep His Commandments. This is your all.