Many people know Dorothy L. Sayers as the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery stories. Few realize she wrote a good deal about the Christian Faith. Here’s a quote from “Types of Christian Drama with some Notes on Production.”

“Christianity is not primarily an emotional experience, or a set of logical conclusions, or a code of ethics. It is a story. It is not constructed out of man’s feelings or reasons or even his moral imperatives. It is the story of God’s act in history.”

I wish I had read that when I was young. It would have given me a counterbalance to something I heard from a religious leader. I encountered a pastor who frequently berated the congregation for knowing “the story structure” rather than the meaning of the Bible. The problem is that much of the Bible is narrative or story telling. Jesus taught with stories, for example. Without knowing the story, it’s impossible to discover the Bible’s meaning.

The over-arching meaning of Christianity is contained in what Sayers calls “the story of God’s act in history.” Pastor Ralph Rhiedesel, who confirmed me, taught us the stories of the Bible and gave us sign posts so we could find our way through them. Each week we recited Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and then added the story we learned that week. Eventually we went from Adam and Eve through Paul.

The stories continue with our own story of how God has been part of our life. What’s your story, and who have you told it to?

Read Psalm 145:4 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne