A person I recently connected with quite serendipitously on Facebook sent me this excellent poem. He wrote it in one sitting after a deep conviction about his role as a keynote presenter. But his words have meaning for any preacher, teacher or public speaker. They certainly gave me reason for pause. See the poem at his website here, or read them below:
The Call
You do not get to choose in this lifetime or in any other whether or not you are a storyteller. You can only choose by intention or by action whether or not you will yield to the impulse, the gift, and the demands of telling stories. It is a double-edged sword at best and will take of you its price either way. The costs of the journey are many and high, the cost of not taking it beyond measure.
The truth is stories and storytelling are living things of their own and only allow us or not to embody them, to inhabit them, and, the divine willing, give them expression. The best of the stories that any of us will ever have the impulse and, if possible, the ability to tell, will never be those of our own choosing but those that choose us to tell them. They will call on us to tell them before we know what they are or what we are to do. They will call on us until we can in fact live them, and in so doing give them birth, expression, and life.
You do not choose whether or not you are among the chosen, only whether or not you will heed the call. So read these words and weep. If you understand them, you are among the chosen and the bearer of a burden that will lift you in proportion to its weight. If you do not understand, pray that the chosen are among you and that they heeded their call. They are healers, guides, and heralds.
They are the seekers, seers, and voice of the divine.
Patrick A. Horton, PhD, The Story Coach
www.thestorycoach.com
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