Once, I heard a speaker who challenged her audience to reflect on their favorite books and stories from childhood. What captured their imagination? What and who helped them to hash out the rights and wrongs of the world? What did their favorite characters teach about who they wanted to be, and how they wanted to be? What was most aggravating about the villains? As it turned out, these questions are richly significant.
The Stories We Are Told and Enter Into Help to Shape Us
For me, stories like the Borrowers, David the Gnome, Little House on the Prairie, Ms. Rumphius, and Little Women carved out a piece of my own heart. Each impressed upon me the significance of small acts of heroism, beauty, simplicity, ingenuity, and imagination.
I loved the idea of coexisting with little people who might borrow things from my home, a gnome veterinarian who looked out for his forest companions, or Ms. Rumphius, who decided to make the world a more beautiful place. Later, I identified deeply with August Boatright from The Secret Life of Bees, as a grounded, wise, maternal figure who saw things and people for who and what they were.
Scripture is like that too. Certainly, Jesus understood our propensity toward sharing our experiences. Before printing presses, our canon was an oral tradition. The stories we sit with, the parables that teach us, touch us, and the individuals who challenge us nourish a deep reservoir within our searching hearts.
I have always loved the Creation stories, and the account of Sarah laughing at the Lord’s long-awaited promise of motherhood. I love the prophet Daniel’s affection for the created world, and Mary Magdalene’s loyalty to her friend Jesus, even after His death. I am enamored by the way that Jesus answers questions (very often with stories), knowing the outright intent of the inquirer.
The Stories We Hear Over and Over Again Are Important
Fostering an imagination and being intrigued by predicaments of our favorite protagonists, along with their quick problem-solving, helps us to work out the conflicts in our own circumstances. Similarly, hearing and re-hearing stories that remind us of our spiritual DNA—who and whose we are—are essential for reminding us that we are called and equipped for the adventures we encounter in our own lives. As Pope Saint John Paul II once wrote, “Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure” (source).
Eating Your Vitamins
Reading widely has been referred to as “eating your fruits and veggies”: enjoying a great variety of fun, frivolous tales that provide entertainment or information, mysteries, and biographies, alongside the stories that help to bolster our aspirations to live lives inspired by spiritual heroes. So much the better when imaginative stories combine with Truth to truly touch our imaginations.
This summer, I stumbled upon an author who has successfully combined stories of children alongside spiritual reality, providing a framework for readers about how Jesus walks with us in ways large and small. Through the stories of Micah, Rachel, Hannah, Abigail, and Zedekiah, Claudia Cangilla McAdams invites readers to see through the eyes of children the miracle of forgiveness, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and Baptism, along with the often confusing topic of the Real Presence.
Whether being tempted to have something new and wonderful, facing fears, being made fun of for being different, or vying for first place, each child personally encounters the Lord. Without exception, their experiences of Jesus’ mercy, love, grace, and Spirit are enough to encourage them in whatever pickle they have found themselves in.
McAdam seamlessly weaves the stories of these children into meaningful encounters with God—combining “fruits and veggies” into a nourishing superfood of sorts that captivates young readers, while Gina Capaldi’s illustrations bring to life the scenes described in each story.
Only as an adult have I given much thought to the essential nature of stories for myself, but I am certainly not alone. An Islamic term for Abrahamic traditions, those who have received the inspired word of God (including Jews and Christians) are referred to as “people of the book,” (Ahl al-Kitāb). It gives a new perspective on why Saint Josemaría Escrivá said, “Reading has made many Saints” (The Way, point no. 116).
Small wonder that as children or adult readers, we are on the search for good stories. I continue to reach for stories, and to surround the children in my life with the same. Praise God for story-tellers and our unquenchable desire for stories, which reminds us that we have been written into the greatest story ever told!
Katie Cassady is a wife and mom who has worked in young adult and social ministry in a variety of roles over the past 15 years. Steeped in theological reflection, it is her joy to make connections between Scripture, service, and Catholic social teaching through her work at Catholic Charities. She holds a master's degree in Pastoral Ministry and loves to write about the dignity of the human person, stewardship, and Sabbath in a world desperate for the peace of Christ.
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