The new oral tradition

I was thinking about blogging during Sunday School today. Well, that isn't quite right. I was thinking about what blogging means, what it is, what it does. This all sounds too philosophical. . .

Really, I was thinking about togetherness. And telling stories.

We read the parables of the lost sheep and the lost piece of silver. I didn't raise my hand to join the others who took turns sharing what stood out to them in the verses we read, but I was struck by the phrase "Rejoice with me." It crops up a few times in those verses and I couldn't help but think how, in many ways, blogging allows us to rejoice together. We can "calleth together [our] friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have ____________!" (Fill in the blank. . . I have made a pie! I have done something funny! I have had a baby!) We get to relish in the small and happy moments together.

Telling stories allow us to do this, and blogging is our new public square. It's oral tradition reincarnate. It's rejoicing together. I've learned while writing my stories down that even though our stories aren't perfect, or expected or sometimes even our own, they are important and worth sharing. Because we've created a community of learning by story telling. By sharing, listening, imagining, remembering, and rejoicing, we take part in making more togetherness.

And that's important. Because people are important.