2020 is behind us. Thank God! Still, last year will be the bedrock of many changes we’ve all been through. There are so many stories that we’ve not yet determined the best way to store them up, or promote them outward. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve considered what exists behind the public scenes. Stories we may never know anything about. It’s within my spirit that some stories must be told. I’m thinking about them in a role I’ve called The Story Board of Life.
It came to me late one night, as I was doing some bible reading and contemplating. There were 12 tribes of Israel, and for the most, we only know a few of their names, much less their stories. If you didn’t know it, the priesthood of Israel became known as the Levites. Essentially they were the sons and offspring of Levi, one of the 12 sons of Jacob (who later became Israel). Judah was the father of the praisers, and from this tribe, we find the heritage of David, Solomon, and Jesus.
But what about all the other sons? The other 10 tribes? Okay, Israel’s first king was Saul, and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. As was Saul who later became Paul.
And that’s where I drew the line in my brain. I’m not sure I know the stories of the other tribes. Surely there’s a book or an outline out there. I’ll research and get back to you later.
What About Me
Then I thought about my life. Thanks to different genealogy services, we are finding out more about who we are. Advertisements show a young generation sitting down with an older generation and asking for the stories of their heritage. Thankfully, my mom started researching, documenting, and building up treasures of my heritage. Equally, she’s organized it with the plan to pass it on. God willing, I’ll have some offspring that will be interested in knowing their roots and will ask me the same question.
“Tell me about my heritage…my roots…where did we come from?”
A few years back I was visiting mom and dad, and we took a drive through the old neighborhoods of my young years. From Dyer Street to Earl, Kirby, and South Brentwood, we looked at childhood homes, schools that had matured, and a world of difference existed today than what it was like way back then.
The memories flooded in. If only I could have stopped and taken notes and written down my thoughts. Instead, I simply snapped photographs and reminisced.
Then it hit me.
Very few people will ever be interested in that storyboard of life that documents my sister’s first sidewalk birthday party, that police tricycle we bought at The Salvage, or the answer to where mom and dad bought my first rocking chair? (I still own the chair!) Or, eating butterbeans from off the fence as they grew, or existing in (sic) a child labor camp when I had to wash dishes every day!
The names, faces, and events of those years simply fill the backdrop of my story. They are what made me who I am today. No one needs to know unless they are interested in researching. I thought about my parents and their unique upbringings and the stories I’ve heard around a game table, campfire, or traveling down the road.
These stories fade under the auspices of time. Eventually, they will no longer exist because they are not recorded. And, even if recorded, unless they are read or heard they will simply slip into the ether of the past.
Places and events. People, crowds, and names. Friends. Families. Strangers. Happy and scared moments.
Gone. And no one cares. Why? This is simply life.
The Story Board of Life… fades under the auspices of time. Eventually, my story will no longer exist unless recorded. Even then, if not read, will it even matter? Click To TweetJesus
In the closing story by the disciple we know as John, we find these closing words. Perhaps they are appropriate to the storyboard of our own lives.
And there are also many other things that Jesus did,
which if they were written one by one,
I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
(John 21:25 NKJV)
The only stories we have of Jesus, in flesh and blood, come from the Gospel events. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) document the life of Jesus surrounded by his parables, miracles, and existence. John revolves more around the Identity of who Jesus is. It would be appropriate for John to write the last book of the bible.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
(Revelation 1:1-3 NKJV)
For centuries we lived our lives, awaiting the return of Christ. It has not happened yet. Could it be during the storyboard of my life it may just happen? Only time will tell.
A Song
Fanny Crosby, a favored songwriter of a prior century, penned these words about 1880…
Tell me the story of Jesus,
write on my heart every word;
tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard.
I’ve carried this snippet with me since 1986 when I sang the words at the start of an Easter performance we presented in Anchorage, Alaska. Long since I’ve sung these words in my heart as I open the bible to read the story of Jesus again.
It’s time to dig deep and deeper. Then, it will be time to share His Story again. But this time, I also want to live His Story in my life. My storyboard will follow his.