Why tell stories? In fact, you might be wondering to yourself, what is the point of telling a story? Well, that’s the point exactly. If you are wondering why you should tell a story to make your point, then there is a good chance your audience is probably also wondering what the point is of the story you are telling. I’m Dawn Jones and in order to make this point, let me tell you a story.

STORY AND TRUTH

There was once an old man who was on an expedition. He traveled for weeks, for months – in fact, it seemed like he traveled a lifetime, as he was tired and weary.

One day he came upon an unknown, yet familiar town. As he walked with anticipation through the inviting entrance of the city, he saw a homestead with a glowing sign on the door that read “Welcome.” Parched with thirst, he longed for refreshment.

He ventured toward the door of the homestead and knocked. The door wasn’t even opened but instead, just off to the side, from a corner window, a woman peeled back the curtain to sneak a peek to see who was there. As soon as she saw his face, she abruptly turned away and quickly shut the curtain— yelling through the door for him to go away.

This happened to him at several homes and even some businesses—at times some people were polite, while other times, it got worse, in fact—some people would open the door foully yelling “GO AWAY OLD MAN—GET OUT OF HERE!!” Then rudely slam the door in his face!

Dismayed and discouraged, he decided to take a rest at the local park where he could see the city from a safe distance. He came upon a well-worn bench and as he sat there, he looked out into the distance where he saw a younger man coming through the entrance of that city.

This young man stood tall and confident—full of energy and enthusiasm. He too had traveled to the homesteads and businesses that the old man had traveled; only he was received with open arms and welcomed in—“Come in” they would say; “have a seat,” “stay a while!” This young man seemed to have it all together, but something was missing, as after a short time, he too was asked to leave. Even though this young man was causing so much of a hubbub in the city, he became overwhelmed and exhausted; so he too decided to escape to the park on the edge of the city.

As the young man came into the park, he approached the bench where the old man was sitting and asked if he could join him. The old man said yes and stretched out his hand to greet him saying “my name is JT,” the young man reached his hand out and said “my name is JS”. Curiously, JS asked what JT stood for and the old man replied “Just Truth, but no one wants to hear me as they seem to get bored, tune out and stop listening”. JS responded “my name stands for ‘Just Stories’ and people love listening to me—but after time, they too seem to get bored, tune-out and stop listening”. At that point an old woman with long white hair and a long flowing coat unexpectedly appeared and approached the two men; her name was SW which stood for Simply Wisdom. Suddenly, both men realized what they had
been missing on their journeys.

This seemingly serendipitous story was obviously no accident; for in order for someone to find wisdom in your ideas, there must be a balance of young, fresh stories wrapped around age old truth. For a story without truth everyone will enjoy for the moment and soon forget, whereas unvarnished truth rubs people the wrong way.