Creation
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
Stories to Live By: "Being Present"/ "Live in Peace"
Shining Moments: "God Created Death?" by John Sumwalt
Good Stories: "Creation" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "I'm With You" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life and death? These questions are as old as humankind. Every culture has told stories which give meaning and insight into these questions, if not answers. Stories may in fact be the best way to respond to origin and meaning questions. Stories are a peephole into mystery. They give a glimpse of a reality that cannot otherwise be comprehended. Jesus understood this and it is the reason he spun the parables, our windows into the new age that he said was at hand. John's "Creation" story in Good Stories and "God Created Death?" in Shining Moments are tellable tales that will give added dimension to sermons on the Genesis text.
Stories to Live By
Being Present
One day a certain father went to visit his son's preschool. (It was a day when dads could come to visit.) But when he got there, he was shocked to discover that only a handful of fathers had come to be with their children.
Later on that morning, all of the children were sitting on the floor in a circle. The teacher asked the children to tell the group something about their fathers, something that was special. One little boy said, "Well, my daddy is a lawyer. He makes a lot of money and we live in a big house." A little girl said, "My father is very smart. He teaches at the college and a lot of important people know him." Finally it was time for this father's son to say something special about his dad. The little boy looked up at his father, then he looked around the circle of his friends, and then he just smiled and proudly said, "My dad... my dad is here!"
(Homiletics, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1994)
Live in Peace
...live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11b
There's a story told of two desert fathers who lived close together, sharing everything in the Egyptian desert, praying together, supporting each other in their walk with God. There was never a cross word spoken between them; they always saw eye to eye. In fact, their relationship was so happy that they worried a little. They wondered whether the fact that there was no struggle between them meant that they were missing some trial that would bring them the grace of God.
So they decided to have an argument. But what could they argue over? They had very little of anything to argue over, and they were always in complete agreement anyway. In the end, one of them picked up a mud brick from the ground outside. He put it on the table between them and said to the other, "This is my brick, and you can't have it."
The other monk answered, "No it isn't, it's mine" and looked hopefully at the other, waiting for him to retaliate. (Now they were really getting into this...)
The first monk looked at him, opened and closed his mouth a few times, and said, "That's fine, you have it then." And they say that, having proved that they really didn't want to argue, and that this was a trial they could perfectly well do without, they lived in harmony from that day on.
Shining Moments
God Created Death?
by John Sumwalt
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31
It happened at a fifth and sixth grade church camp. The theme was "Partners in Creation." There were about thirty children and eight adult counselors. Each night we gathered around the campfire for worship and storytelling. I invited everyone to make up their own creation stories to tell as we studied the creation stories in Genesis throughout the week. Each night we closed with a litany based on Genesis 1. I would say, "In the beginning God created..." and then I would point to one of the children, who would fill in the blank by saying something like "trees," for example. And we would all say, "In the beginning God created trees, and they were good. Very good!"
The blank was filled in by lots of obvious things, like rainbows, water, air, people, puppies, grandpas and grandmas, and so on. Near the end of the week, I told the campers the sky is the limit, and that they could include silly things. We had great fun saying "In the beginning God created 'mosquitoes,' 'oatmeal,' 'armpits,' 'broccoli,' 'prune juice,' and 'homework.' And it was good. Very good!"
We went along like that, doing a mixture of silly and serious things, laughing and praising God with much joyous banter, when I pointed to a little girl who had not said much all week, and she said "death" (we discovered later that her grandmother had died just before she came to camp). There was a poignant pause, a holy hush as we looked around at each other, wondering if we could go on with the litany. It seemed like a long time, but it was only an instant, one of those moments that cannot be measured in time, when the Spirit moved in and through us, and we all knew that what the little girl said was true. We joined our voices together as one in a holy affirmation I will remember until my dying day. "In the beginning God created death, and it was good. Very good."
Good Stories
Creation
by John Sumwalt
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep...
Genesis 1:1-2b
The Almighty One was alone. There was empty darkness as far as far could be, in every direction; up, down, under, around, out and beyond -- nothingness: a great colorless void. Suddenly the Almighty One exploded. She could contain herself no longer. Worlds and suns went out in every direction. A whole universe was born in an instant. Galaxies of bright, shining stars twinkled in the darkness. The great void was filled with light.
"My, my," the Almighty One thought, "what a lovely sight." And she sat and looked at what she had created, and looked and looked until she had seen all that her almighty eyes could see. "It is not finished," she thought. "Something more is needed. I wonder if, perhaps, it might be possible...." And as the Almighty One pondered the possibilities, here and there, on some of the worlds, life began to form. Rain fell, cells divided, seeds sprouted, plants grew, eggs hatched; creatures began to swim and crawl and run and dance before the Almighty One's eyes. "It is good," she thought. "Yes, it is good. I shall let them live and grow and take care of all my worlds. And when they are ready we will... ah, but that is enough for now."
And then the Almighty One smiled inside herself and heaved a great sigh of relief. She was no longer alone.
Scrap Pile
I'm With You
by John Sumwalt
There is an old British marching song from the Boer War called "Marching to Pretoria":
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together, so we are all together.
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together as we march along.
We are marching to Pretoria.
The rhythm of the song is such that you really feel like you are marching, and it doesn't really matter where. What's important is that you are marching with someone.
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together.
The song points to our continual need for companionship -- the need to feel a part of something or somebody; the need to feel a part of something more than just ourselves -- the need to be with.
"Withness" is especially appreciated in times of need or hurt. When we are in the hospital, a simple visit from a friend can make all the difference in the world. When we are lonely, all we want is for someone we love to spend a little time with us. When we are in sorrow after the death of a loved one, it means so much to have friends and family with us. We sometimes wonder what to say, but more important than what we say is just being there. Presence is a comfort.
As I thought about the importance of "withness," I realized that one cannot really define it without comparing it to its opposite. We cannot really appreciate the joy of being with unless we have known the pain of being without -- you can't have one without the other.
It's like food. Food has meaning to us only because we have known what it means to be without it -- to be hungry. We appreciate water because we have known thirst. In the same way, we appreciate being with someone because we know what it means to be without them. Sometimes it works the other way, too. We appreciate being without someone because we know what it's like to be with them!
Unlike Will Rogers, who said, "I never met a man I didn't like," I have met a few people I can appreciate being without.
Jesus was very much aware of the importance of "withness." Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pray with me one hour." Jesus didn't want to be alone.
He assured them when he ascended into heaven, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." He did not call them to go on alone.
That's the unique thing about being a Christian. Jesus is always with us.
**********************************************
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, May 22, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
What's Up This Week
Stories to Live By: "Being Present"/ "Live in Peace"
Shining Moments: "God Created Death?" by John Sumwalt
Good Stories: "Creation" by John Sumwalt
Scrap Pile: "I'm With You" by John Sumwalt
What's Up This Week
Where did we come from? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life and death? These questions are as old as humankind. Every culture has told stories which give meaning and insight into these questions, if not answers. Stories may in fact be the best way to respond to origin and meaning questions. Stories are a peephole into mystery. They give a glimpse of a reality that cannot otherwise be comprehended. Jesus understood this and it is the reason he spun the parables, our windows into the new age that he said was at hand. John's "Creation" story in Good Stories and "God Created Death?" in Shining Moments are tellable tales that will give added dimension to sermons on the Genesis text.
Stories to Live By
Being Present
One day a certain father went to visit his son's preschool. (It was a day when dads could come to visit.) But when he got there, he was shocked to discover that only a handful of fathers had come to be with their children.
Later on that morning, all of the children were sitting on the floor in a circle. The teacher asked the children to tell the group something about their fathers, something that was special. One little boy said, "Well, my daddy is a lawyer. He makes a lot of money and we live in a big house." A little girl said, "My father is very smart. He teaches at the college and a lot of important people know him." Finally it was time for this father's son to say something special about his dad. The little boy looked up at his father, then he looked around the circle of his friends, and then he just smiled and proudly said, "My dad... my dad is here!"
(Homiletics, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1994)
Live in Peace
...live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11b
There's a story told of two desert fathers who lived close together, sharing everything in the Egyptian desert, praying together, supporting each other in their walk with God. There was never a cross word spoken between them; they always saw eye to eye. In fact, their relationship was so happy that they worried a little. They wondered whether the fact that there was no struggle between them meant that they were missing some trial that would bring them the grace of God.
So they decided to have an argument. But what could they argue over? They had very little of anything to argue over, and they were always in complete agreement anyway. In the end, one of them picked up a mud brick from the ground outside. He put it on the table between them and said to the other, "This is my brick, and you can't have it."
The other monk answered, "No it isn't, it's mine" and looked hopefully at the other, waiting for him to retaliate. (Now they were really getting into this...)
The first monk looked at him, opened and closed his mouth a few times, and said, "That's fine, you have it then." And they say that, having proved that they really didn't want to argue, and that this was a trial they could perfectly well do without, they lived in harmony from that day on.
Shining Moments
God Created Death?
by John Sumwalt
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31
It happened at a fifth and sixth grade church camp. The theme was "Partners in Creation." There were about thirty children and eight adult counselors. Each night we gathered around the campfire for worship and storytelling. I invited everyone to make up their own creation stories to tell as we studied the creation stories in Genesis throughout the week. Each night we closed with a litany based on Genesis 1. I would say, "In the beginning God created..." and then I would point to one of the children, who would fill in the blank by saying something like "trees," for example. And we would all say, "In the beginning God created trees, and they were good. Very good!"
The blank was filled in by lots of obvious things, like rainbows, water, air, people, puppies, grandpas and grandmas, and so on. Near the end of the week, I told the campers the sky is the limit, and that they could include silly things. We had great fun saying "In the beginning God created 'mosquitoes,' 'oatmeal,' 'armpits,' 'broccoli,' 'prune juice,' and 'homework.' And it was good. Very good!"
We went along like that, doing a mixture of silly and serious things, laughing and praising God with much joyous banter, when I pointed to a little girl who had not said much all week, and she said "death" (we discovered later that her grandmother had died just before she came to camp). There was a poignant pause, a holy hush as we looked around at each other, wondering if we could go on with the litany. It seemed like a long time, but it was only an instant, one of those moments that cannot be measured in time, when the Spirit moved in and through us, and we all knew that what the little girl said was true. We joined our voices together as one in a holy affirmation I will remember until my dying day. "In the beginning God created death, and it was good. Very good."
Good Stories
Creation
by John Sumwalt
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep...
Genesis 1:1-2b
The Almighty One was alone. There was empty darkness as far as far could be, in every direction; up, down, under, around, out and beyond -- nothingness: a great colorless void. Suddenly the Almighty One exploded. She could contain herself no longer. Worlds and suns went out in every direction. A whole universe was born in an instant. Galaxies of bright, shining stars twinkled in the darkness. The great void was filled with light.
"My, my," the Almighty One thought, "what a lovely sight." And she sat and looked at what she had created, and looked and looked until she had seen all that her almighty eyes could see. "It is not finished," she thought. "Something more is needed. I wonder if, perhaps, it might be possible...." And as the Almighty One pondered the possibilities, here and there, on some of the worlds, life began to form. Rain fell, cells divided, seeds sprouted, plants grew, eggs hatched; creatures began to swim and crawl and run and dance before the Almighty One's eyes. "It is good," she thought. "Yes, it is good. I shall let them live and grow and take care of all my worlds. And when they are ready we will... ah, but that is enough for now."
And then the Almighty One smiled inside herself and heaved a great sigh of relief. She was no longer alone.
Scrap Pile
I'm With You
by John Sumwalt
There is an old British marching song from the Boer War called "Marching to Pretoria":
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together, so we are all together.
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together as we march along.
We are marching to Pretoria.
The rhythm of the song is such that you really feel like you are marching, and it doesn't really matter where. What's important is that you are marching with someone.
I'm with you and you're with me,
and so we are all together.
The song points to our continual need for companionship -- the need to feel a part of something or somebody; the need to feel a part of something more than just ourselves -- the need to be with.
"Withness" is especially appreciated in times of need or hurt. When we are in the hospital, a simple visit from a friend can make all the difference in the world. When we are lonely, all we want is for someone we love to spend a little time with us. When we are in sorrow after the death of a loved one, it means so much to have friends and family with us. We sometimes wonder what to say, but more important than what we say is just being there. Presence is a comfort.
As I thought about the importance of "withness," I realized that one cannot really define it without comparing it to its opposite. We cannot really appreciate the joy of being with unless we have known the pain of being without -- you can't have one without the other.
It's like food. Food has meaning to us only because we have known what it means to be without it -- to be hungry. We appreciate water because we have known thirst. In the same way, we appreciate being with someone because we know what it means to be without them. Sometimes it works the other way, too. We appreciate being without someone because we know what it's like to be with them!
Unlike Will Rogers, who said, "I never met a man I didn't like," I have met a few people I can appreciate being without.
Jesus was very much aware of the importance of "withness." Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested, Jesus said to his disciples, "Pray with me one hour." Jesus didn't want to be alone.
He assured them when he ascended into heaven, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." He did not call them to go on alone.
That's the unique thing about being a Christian. Jesus is always with us.
**********************************************
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and e-mail the story to us.
**************
New Book
The third book in the vision series, Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives (edited by John Sumwalt), is now available from CSS Publishing Company. (Click on the title for information about how to order.) Among the 60 contributing authors of these Chicken Soup for the Soul-like vignettes are Ralph Milton, Sandra Herrmann, Pamela J. Tinnin, Richard H. Gentzler Jr., David Michael Smith, Anne Sunday, Nancy Nichols, William Lee Rand, Gail Ingle, and Rosmarie Trapp, whose family story was told in the classic movie The Sound of Music. The stories follow the lectionary for Cycle A.
Other Books by John & Jo Sumwalt
Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels, and Holy Coincidences
Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles
Life Stories: A Study in Christian Decision Making
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle A
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle B
Lectionary Stories: Forty Tellable Tales for Cycle C
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit: 62 Stories for Cycle B
**************
About the Editors
John E. Sumwalt is the pastor of Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee, and is the author of eight books for CSS. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (UDTS), John received the Herbert Manning Jr. award for Parish Ministry from UDTS in 1997. John is known in the Milwaukee area for his one-minute radio spots which always include a brief story. He concludes each spot by saying, "I'm John Sumwalt with 'A Story to Live By' from Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church."
John has done numerous storytelling events for civic, school, and church groups, as well as on radio and television. He has performed at a number of fundraisers for the homeless, the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, and women's shelters. Since the fall of 1999, when he began working on the Vision Stories series, he has led seminars and retreats around the themes "A Safe Place to Tell Visions," "Vision Stories in the Bible and Today," and coming this spring: "Soul Growth: Discovering Lost Spiritual Dimensions." To schedule a seminar or a retreat, write to jsumwalt@naspa.net or phone 414-257-1228.
Joanne Perry-Sumwalt is director of Christian Education at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, with a degree in English and writing. She has co-authored two books with John, Life Stories: A Study In Christian Decision Making and Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit: 62 Stories For Cycle B. Jo writes original curriculum for church classes. She also serves as the secretary of the Wisconsin chapter of the Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF), and is a member of the National CEF.
Jo and John have been married since 1975. They have two grown children, Kathryn and Orrin. They both love reading, movies, long walks with Chloe (their West Highland Terrier), and working on their old farmhouse in southwest Wisconsin.
**********************************************
StoryShare, May 22, 2005, issue.
Copyright 2005 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., P.O. Box 4503, Lima, Ohio 45802-4503.
