Whose defining our story?

The child and his mom sat in the waiting room. The mother talked to the little one, but he never perked up to listen, in fact he never acknowledged he was being spoken to. The electronic in his hand occupied all of his attention. I wondered if he ever listened to his mother. He was obviously used to his hand held devise. When the child was called to go back, he did not hear his name. He did proceed to scream when his mother removed the devise and gently, strong-armed him into the back room.

Most of us have done it as parents. We use the TV, computer, iPad, or the phone to babysit and entertain children. The scene above set my thoughts wandering. I began to ponder the loss of listening. The art of sitting still and quiet. Maybe it is bigger. Maybe we have lost the discipline of story telling too.

Who will preserve our folklore, our culture, our songs, and on a much bigger level: our Christianity.

As a child myself, we would often travel around to hear story tellers. One of my mother's favorites wrote Alabama ghost stories with "Jeffrey." I would usually have to be forcefully persuaded to go, but once there, I was always captivated by the lady or gent spinning a yarn.

Not too long ago, we visited some friend who took us to the Signal Mountain Opry. After the switchbacks and steep drive up the mountain, we were treated to a "hoe down." It was an old building, that looked a little like a deserted church. It had been preserved, but was not pristine. It fit the entertainment perfectly as a setting for bluegrass. The different groups sang songs and entertained the crowded room that smelled of popcorn. While they played, some of the folks clogged and danced. It was a small time capsule of folklore that has almost been forgotten in the bustle of our day.

When I meet my Papaw (first husband's grandfather) we would sit on the front porch and he would tell stories of fishing while evading the game warden, of skinny-dipping in the stream after a hot day, of traveling and singing in churches, and of pastoring and preaching. His stories were the best and we would drift to his thoughts and be carried away by the tide of his stories for hours. (At least until Granny came to rescue us from our adrift state with her fried chicken and chocolate chip cookies.) My children remember Papaw passing down his stories too and they also remember his drawer filled with cheese puffs, caramel candies, and circus peanuts. Before arthritis made it too painful to play, he would pick up his guitar and play for them singing a gospel song in his deep, resonating, bass voice. He made himself memorable as he passed down his culture and his folklore. He passed along his faith in greater measure than all else.

As I think of parenting now, the generation that is growing up. It convicts me that most children only hear stories from Disney. We take their devolved, politically correct, liberal agenda, happy endings as our folklore. Disney songs have replaced folk songs. Disney has re-written and scrubbed history. Big Corporations of entertainment now dictate the stories that once were passed along by being read aloud or by being told. The needed imagination is replaced by animation. Disney teaches our culture. Disney teaches about the family unit. What does Disney teach about our Christianity? Oh wait, it does NOT! It is antithetical to our Christian heritage and beliefs.

And how often have you heard it said, "The book is so much better than the movie." The telling of the story and the imagination needed to picture it in your own mind. That is a gift that no cinema can duplicate.

Now, this is not about bashing Disney. It is about raising an awareness of a dying legacy. It is a reminder to tell stories to children. Talk to them. Read to them. Engage them. Don't let the iPad be their only entertainment. Turn the TV off and talk. Sing songs of your childhood. Share your family history with them. There has been an article on Facebook documenting the decrease of interest in history and the impact on historical museums. History is more than the facts, it is a chronicle of the events that have brought us to this point. It is our story.

But, in reality it is so much bigger than our stories. We should be passing down our trust and belief in God. Talking to and with the generations that follow us. I think God's word says it so much better than I ever could:

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."


These things that God gave to His people. He commanded them to pass down. These were the laws, the ceremonies, the history, the songs of His people. They were told to remember.

Which begs the question of us, do we remember who we are and whose we are? We have to be mindful of the law and history to pass them down to our children.

I hope that this post helps to remind people to remember the God who bought His people with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And while remembering, to pass along their faith and practice which is built on the Word of God to their children. Build memorials in your life of God's faithfulness and tell of those times when He has answered prayers and moved mightily in your life. Talk to them.

I have seen it happen more times than I like, that as we grow older we grow quieter. Grandparents, please share of God's faithfulness through your life. It is not about entertaining the children, it is about teaching them about God and passing down to them their culture. Disengaging is not an option for Christians. We are to TALK.

Let God, who is the designer of our story, tell it in His words and let us magnify Him in our words.