For several years, I've been a volunteer and professional Biblical storyteller for audiences that include both adults and children. It has been wonderful to see people's faces light up with laughter, with learning, recognition, or tears. Amazing things can happen when words become pictures. Pictures that take listeners along dusty market paths with Jesus of Nazareth, with Peter or another disciple.
To me, telling a story, particularly a Bible story—demands honesty, a conscious recognition that this is God's story and needs to be told in Her way. Storytelling also requires listening. It springs from the silent interaction of both the teller and the audience. Above all, it must be driven by love: love for the message and love for the audience. It can be like prayer, a deep knowing that God, divine Love, is right there.
More often than not, performances that exude spontaneity and inspiration, begin with research, deliberate sifting of ideas, and practice, practice, practice. When I began my own expedition with Bible storytelling, humility and trust seemed important and apt qualities to pursue if I accepted each story as God's, not mine.
