When my wife and I were first married we went to a church that was your atypical worship facility. Dark oak benches, dark carpet, large wood molding surrounding even larger windows, and huge vaulted ceiling with massive beams joining their hands in prayer at the peak. The benches were hard and difficult to sit in for the hour and a half of the service. When you walked into the "sanctuary" you would only hear whispers until the organ began to play and then the only other sound was your singing when the service began. Can you picture the place? Can you see it in your mind?
In this most holy place I leaned towards my wife to whisper something in her ear. Careful not to disturb those around us she leaned towards me to hear. Just as her ear touched my mustache I sneezed ... I sneezed right into her ear. I wasn't planning on it, I wasn't intending to do it, but it happened. While she wiped off the side of her face I was racked by the most serious case of the giggles I have ever been hit with. The full shoulder bouncing, cheek-stretching, eye tearing giggles you can imagine. Not only did I disturb the sanctity of the place I took out the four rows behind us who were also inflicted with the same symptoms of the giggles.
Stories can take you to a timeless place: a place where you are young again, where you can almost smell the smells of youth and play; a place where love has a face in your memory; a place where you can bring others along in the telling. Stories are your history and your place in time. When nothing else can break through the concrete wall of you remembering mind a story slides in the door and takes up residence. Not only do we allow stories in but also we mull them over and store them for later use.
That is why when God came as man, he came telling stories that we still know of today: The Good Samaritan, The Lost Sheep, The Prodigal Son, The Good Shepherd and the Pearl of Great Price. Tell your stories and take us all to your timeless place.