{"id":8693,"date":"2019-12-30T00:52:07","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T23:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/?p=8693"},"modified":"2019-12-30T00:52:07","modified_gmt":"2019-12-29T23:52:07","slug":"god-loves-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2019\/12\/30\/god-loves-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"God loves stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nfrom North & South exhibition, Catharijneconvent<\/a>, Utrecht  (Photo: Irene Bom)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thank you to all who subscribe and visit the site regularly. According to my stats, in 2019 we had twice as many views and visitors as last year – visitors from 100 countries around the world.<\/p>\n

For this post – the last in 2019 – I’ve selected excerpts from a paintedprayerbook.com<\/a> post from 2014 in which Jan Richardson<\/strong> reflects on the significance of story and Jesus as storyteller supreme.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nElie Wiesel says that God created us because God loves stories.<\/p>\n

When Christ came (in the fullness of time, the story goes), he came as the Word made flesh. A story in motion. And he went into the world with stories on his lips, weaving them everywhere he went.<\/p>\n

A sower went out to sow.<\/em>
\nA man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers.<\/em>
\nThere was a man who had two sons.<\/em><\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

Jesus understood that in a world where it can be so difficult to know God, to know others, to know even ourselves, a story can offer a language, a doorway, a point of entry. He knew how a story can take us a little deeper into knowing, a little farther down the road in our journey of return.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

What stories are you listening to? What stories are you telling? How do you attend to your own story? Where have you experienced being lost in a story, and being found? How might God be inviting you to look at your story with new eyes?
\n <\/p>\n\n

Blessing the Story<\/h3>\n

You might think
\nthis blessing lives
\nin the story
\nthat you can see,
\nthat it has curled up
\nin a comfortable spot
\non the surface
\nof the telling.<\/p>\n

But this blessing lives
\nin the story beneath
\nthe story.
\nIt lives in the story
\ninside the story.
\nIn the spaces
\nbetween.
\nIn the edges,
\nthe margins,
\nthe mysterious gaps,
\nthe enticing and
\nfertile emptiness.<\/p>\n

This blessing
\nmakes its home
\nwithin the layers.
\nThis blessing is
\ndoorway and portal,
\npassage and path.
\nIt is more ancient
\nthan imagining
\nand makes itself
\never new.<\/p>\n

This blessing
\nis where the story
\nbegins.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Jan Richardson<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 
\nSource: paintedprayerbook.com<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n\n

From the blog<\/strong>
\nTurn, pilgrim<\/a>
\n3 Prayers for endings and beginnings<\/a>
\nTheme: Do not lose heart<\/a> [prayer sheet<\/span>]
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from North & South exhibition, Catharijneconvent, Utrecht  (Photo: Irene Bom)   Thank you to all who subscribe and visit the site regularly. According to my stats, in 2019 we had twice as many views and visitors as last year – visitors from 100 countries around the world. For this post – the last in 2019 … Continue reading “God loves stories”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61,127],"tags":[176],"class_list":["post-8693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blessing","category-quote","tag-story"],"yoast_head":"\nGod loves stories - Prayer matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Excerpts from a paintedprayerbook.com post in which Jan Richardson reflects on the significance of story and Jesus as storyteller supreme.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2019\/12\/30\/god-loves-stories\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God loves stories - 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I see you! \u00a0(Photo: Irene Bom) \u00a0 \u00a0 This post - originally inspired by the theme, Bright - has been on hold since August. It made more sense to wait and delay posting until Christmas came into view, the season of the church year when we traditionally think about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "call to worship"","block_context":{"text":"call to worship","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/call-to-worship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/baby_boy_cropped.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/baby_boy_cropped.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/baby_boy_cropped.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/baby_boy_cropped.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8634,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2019\/12\/14\/theme-good-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":8693,"position":3},"title":"Theme: Good news","author":"Irene Bom","date":"December 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"PDF version \u00a0 This prayer sheet is inspired by the December 2019 theme of the month: Story. In these prayers we reflect on the significance and impact of the good news that Jesus came into the world to seek and save the lost. For personal use or to share. A.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "prayer sheet"","block_context":{"text":"prayer sheet","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/prayer-sheet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/good_news_great_joy_2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/good_news_great_joy_2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/good_news_great_joy_2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11580,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2021\/06\/03\/i-hear-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":8693,"position":4},"title":"I hear you","author":"Irene Bom","date":"June 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"(Photo: Irene Bom) \u00a0 I'm subscribed to the GOODNEWSLETTER - a weekly dose of five good news stories to counter cynicism and despair, to awaken hope. This week's GOODNEWSLETTER opens with a wonderful story from Zimbabwe about the Friendship Bench, a groundbreaking mental health programme based on evidence-based talk therapy,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "article"","block_context":{"text":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tree_overshadows_grass.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tree_overshadows_grass.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tree_overshadows_grass.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tree_overshadows_grass.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4238,"url":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/2018\/02\/08\/wild-animal-praise\/","url_meta":{"origin":8693,"position":5},"title":"Wild animal praise","author":"Irene Bom","date":"February 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado exhibit, Rotterdam 2017 (Photo: Irene Bom) \u00a0 This post combines a contemporary take on Psalm 148, written for a \u201cblessing of the animals\u201d service, and the work of Sebasti\u00e3o Salgado, the world-renowned Brazilian photographer, whose exhibition I visited last summer. Circle of Praise (inspired by Psalm 148) All\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "psalms"","block_context":{"text":"psalms","link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/psalms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/genesis_fotomuseum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/genesis_fotomuseum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/genesis_fotomuseum.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/genesis_fotomuseum.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Irene Bom","author_link":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/author\/irenebom-com\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/blessing\/\" rel=\"category tag\">blessing<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/category\/quote\/\" rel=\"category tag\">quote<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"from North & South exhibition, Catharijneconvent, Utrecht  (Photo: Irene Bom)   Thank you to all who subscribe and visit the site regularly. According to my stats, in 2019 we had twice as many views and visitors as last year – visitors from 100 countries around the world. For this post – the last in 2019…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irenebom.com\/prayer_matters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}