Our personal stories hold the key to truly knowing ourselves, understanding our fellow humans, and even glimpsing the divine. The narratives we construct about God, society, and our own selves form the inner GPS that guides us through this life’s journey. However, the major upheavals and losses we inevitably face can shatter our existing stories, painfully stripping away our illusions but also opening up new perspectives for growth.
In this vulnerability, we must embrace the contradictions, the multiple paths, the circular cycles, and the ever-evolving nature of the myths we live by. Our stories need not achieve some final coherence or consistency. Rather, they make space for the full, messy, gloriously human reality we experience day to day. Within each of us dwell a multitude of selves, a diversity of voices and viewpoints constantly interacting. To deny this rich internal plurality is to deny our very nature.
Sharing these kaleidoscopic tales with others allows for new meanings to emerge, new revelations to take shape, new paths toward healing to unfold. An outside perspective can reframe an old story, transforming it into the medicinal myth that nurtures our growth. The stories we tell connect us, creating webs of shared experiences like grief, questioning, joy, and spiritual longing that join us together in our common human journey.
Contemplation is not an escape from story, but a deeper listening to the myriad narratives constantly unfolding within and around us. As we tune into this cosmic polyphony, our personal myths can lead us to confront the uncomfortable depths and holy mysteries within our very selves. There is no final resolution, only an ever-richer unfolding of meaning as our tales intersect with those of others, passed down through the ages.
To ignore or discard our stories is to cut ourselves off from our own humanity. For we are storytelling beings, and the divine can only be encountered by engaging authentically with the tales of our own lives intertwined with those of others and woven into the Word that sustains all existence. Like Origen and Jung before us, may we embrace the divinely inspired contradictions within the narratives that guide our steps. May we have the courage to live unreservedly into the myths we inherit and co-create.
There is no need to force coherence or demand happy endings. Our stories are alive, messy, multiple, middle-lingering, mutable, mournful, mysterious, and marvelously intertwined with others’. Living into them with radical authenticity connects us to the grittiness of the human experience and opens our souls to the transformative presence that animates all life’s becomings and disintegrations. To lose our stories is to lose our way entirely. Let us cling tenaciously to the tales that unite us with ourselves, each other, and the Holy that encompasses all stories.
Summary
Exploring and understanding one’s personal story leads to self-knowledge and understanding others and God/the divine. Our stories form an internal “GPS” composed of narratives about God/existence, people/society, and ourselves that helps navigate life and the world. Major life disruptions can shatter existing narratives, leading to a painful loss of illusion but also potential growth and new perspectives. There is an expressed embracing of the contradictions, multiplicity, circularity, and ever-evolving nature of personal myths/stories. Myths make room for the full messy reality of human experience without demanding coherence or consistency. Sharing and revising stories with others can provide new layers of meaning and healing. Stories connect individuals to others through shared experiences like grief, loss, spirituality, etc. Contemplation involves deeply listening to the chorus of stories within and around oneself, rather than ignoring narrative altogether. Personal myths can lead one to face uncomfortable depths and mysteries within. Losing touch with personal story is losing touch with humanity itself; the divine is encountered through engaging with the stories of oneself and others.
Key Points
1. Exploring and understanding one’s personal story leads to self-knowledge and understanding others and God/the divine.
2. Our stories form an internal “GPS” to help navigate life and the world, composed of narratives about God/existence, people/society, and ourselves.
3. Major life disruptions can shatter existing narratives, leading to a painful loss of illusion but also potential growth and new perspectives.
4. The embracing of contradictions, multiplicity, circularity, and the ever-evolving nature of personal myths/stories is expressed.
5. Myths make room for the full messy reality of human experience without demanding coherence or consistency.
6. Sharing and revising stories with others can provide new layers of meaning and healing.
7. Stories connect individuals to others through shared experiences like grief, loss, spirituality, etc.
8. Contemplation involves deeply listening to the chorus of stories within and around oneself, rather than ignoring narrative altogether.
9. Personal myths can lead one to face uncomfortable depths and mysteries within.
10. Losing touch with personal story is losing touch with humanity itself; the divine is encountered through engaging with the stories of oneself and others.
