One Good Story to Another

 

 

"Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man.

The biography of the man himself cannot be written."- Mark Twain

 

 

Who better to quote on story telling than the great master storyteller Mark Twain. What I've recognized in the last few days is the importance of sharing stories with others. It's those moments in our life that happen that just might be meant to share. The impact of those events can bring someone hope.

 

In between 2 shifts of feeding the homeless in the city of Chicago on a cold 2 degree night, I found a stranded motorist, a 19 year-old girl who was crying for help when no one she called would come rescue her. Needless to say, I gave her a ride home. It was a 25-30 minute drive to which she would comment, "I can't believe you are doing this for me. I can't believe there are nice people out there."

I am pretty sure this not just brought her hope, but it will be a story she will share even when she gets older.

 

In case you haven't noticed yet, I love a good story. One of my long time fascinations has been the stories behind songs that were written for our enjoyment. Here are some goodies:

 

1. Barry Manilow's song Mandy was written about his dog. True story. Barry was lying around his home writing songs one day with his dog lying beside him. That dog must have really been cute!

 

2. John Denver wrote Sunshine on my Shoulders on a dreary, gloomy winter day in Minnesota.

Denver wrote this song while dreaming of Spring.

 

3. Another dreaming song came from the great Bing Crosby. He wrote I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas while lying by a pool in sunny Arizona.

 

4.  One of pop-rock group Chicago's first hits was 25 or 6 to 4. Such an intriguing title that I did not understand for quite a few years. Then I heard an interview with the group with the simple explanation, "We were writing the song one day, stumbled on a title then someone had asked what time it was. I looked at the clock...and there it was! It's ironic that later on they would write another song called Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is.

 

5. One of my all-time favorite hymns is It Is Well With my Soul written by Horatio Spafford in 1876. Spafford penned this great impactful song while on a ship headed to Europe to meet his grieving wife. His wife and daughters were traveling to Europe when their ship sank and his wife was the only one of the family to survive.

 

Whether you are a speaker, an author, a song-writer, or just a 9-5 worker on the job you have a story to tell. We all have events or moments in our lives that we may take lightly, but if it's going to bring hope to others, don't keep it to yourself. Your story can make a difference.