The power of story ...

Back in the early days of my training and education at Theology College I was working as a part time chaplain in a Roman Catholic High School with a wonderful Oblate named Father Brian.

Brian taught me much about liturgy, the importance of music within liturgy, the Catholic Church and perhaps most importantly of all engaging your faith, the scriptures and the grey areas of life in a struggle for truth ... Brian and I spent many hours talking about his personal journey and some of the struggles that accompanied it ... but we spent many hours discussing the impact that a faithful life has, and the ramifications it embodies ...

What I remember most was his gentle nature when in the face of crisis he stopped and talked to the young men and women we worked with on THIER level ... his eyes would meet theirs, and he would talk to them person to person rather than as a priest speaking to a wayward charge ... a simple walk down the hall in the school could take three times longer than usual because the kids WANTED to talk to Fr. Brian - they wanted to share their lives with him - they wanted to tell him about their journeys and he took the time to listen, to smile, to laugh, to hold hands and where appropriate to offer hugs ... he was a remarkable man ... and I like the kids at the school grew to love him as a friend.

One week though, he charged me with the responsibility of leading a Religion & Life class for a grade nine or ten class.

"What?" I said more apprehensive than excited, "How can I lead the class? I'm not even Catholic."

"But you've studied the Bible," said a stony faced Fr. Brian.

"Yeah, but ..."

"No 'BUT's. It's a class on the parables. You will teach it ..." and the conversation ended right there.

A few days later I stood in front of a class of teens that I had hung out with in the cafeteria innumerable times and nervously I began to "teach" ... We started with the parable of the Good Samaritan. I read the scriptural texts, then we chatted (it definitely WASN'T a lecture - it was a chat !!!) about who the participants in the story were, where it happened and what Jesus meant to teach all of us with the story. An animated discussion followed as we talked about each person - the victim, the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan ... a lot of time was taken up talking about HOW reviled the Samaritan was in Jesus' world, and how breath-taking this story would have been to his listeners.

The next step was to let the class take the story and create a modern scenario ... we started talking about the locale - almost immediately the "accident" was put on the 401 highway that passed through Kingston from Montreal toToronto ... Next they talked about "who" the priest would be ...

"Father Brian?!" called one voice from the back of the room.

"Are you crazy?" came the reply from one of the girls in the front, "Father Brian would be the FIRST person to stop and help some one. He wouldn't pass by and be worried about getting dirty or anything like that ... he'd be helping ..."

A murmur of agreement passed over the class ... the priest and levite were cast as the principal and the teacher (he was in the room watching - so it was a not too subtle jab at him by his students freed of possible retribution for a moment) ... but the real conversation began when we began to discuss who the Samaritan would be ...

The list of possibilities tumbled out and quickly became long ... they asked the question - "who do we despise and dislike in our culture ?" and they began to offer the answers:

the outcasts ... the mentally ill ... gays and lesbians ... immigrants ... First Nations people ... drunks ... bikers ... the marginalized groups just tumbled out ... and the cast of characters was set ... the drama re-enacted and the victim carried to a hospital by a number of different people held in contempt by the "good" people of our society ... as the class fell silent I stepped up and asked a simple question:

WHY DO YOU THINK JESUS USED A SAMARITAN AS THE HERO?

The answer that the kids agreed on was profound in its bluntness - they agreed that the Samaritan was chosen because he WAS an outsider, and Jesus wanted people to open their eyes to see the inherent goodness that lies within EVERY person, but most sigificantly for these teens was the lesson that we must not assume that just because we think ourselves "good people" that we couldn't hone up on our good works a bit more and be more like the dirty Samaritan who did the right thing while the "right" people walked by and did nothing ...

In the silence the kids nodded and the voice that had suggested Fr. Brian as the possible priest earlier said ... "It's about living our lives like Father Brian isn't it?? Helping others I mean ..."

I don't know if Father Brian ever knew how much he impacted the lives of his young charges as chaplain at the school ... I think he had an inkling of this ... but three years ago when I found his obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press I said a silent prayer of thanks for his presence in my life, and I prayed that he knows at last the profound lessons he taught by his example ...

That afternoon the young people taught me far more than they may ever know ... and I've never been able to look at the parable of the Good Samaritan quite the same way since ... moreover, I never looked at my own faith journey in quite the same way either ...

... such is the power of story ...