Good Story Telling

I don’t mean telling a story well, but telling a story that is good.

I regularly read Donald Miller’s blog and today he wrote about story telling. He started off with an almost absurd example:

Lets say you were married and had two kids, and lets say you had me over for dinner, a young writer whose books you enjoy. And lets say after dinner you put the kids down, and I end up reading them a story. You go back into the kitchen and start doing the dishes, and I sit there by your kids and tell them a really dark, creepy, perhaps inappropriate story. Lets say I tell them a story that no kid should really hear. Of course, I’d never do that. I’m no creep.

He continues to make the point that stories will be told no matter what and people better be out there telling good stories. Stories influence our lives whether we like it or not, or are consciously aware of it or not. (read the rest of his blog, here).

That got me to thinking about church earlier this week. A former pastor returned and shared with us his latest career move, movie production. He produced a movie that will air on NBC* tomorrow. It’s a positive story designed for a “family movie night” something that used to be part of regular TV lineup.

It amazes me how much attention negative behavior gets and how little attention positive behavior gets. It is almost too cliche for modern thinking. You do something bad as a child, you get punished and that equals attention. You do something good, and nothing, that’s expected. After years and years of the good being the expected and the bad being the exception, it’s no wonder that society gravitates so quickly to the bad…it’s what gets attention.

I guess you have to first define what you think is good and what you consider bad behavior. My definition in the simplest terms would be bad=something that hurts yourself or others and good=something that benefits yourself or others. The bad fills the media, the news, the internet and the good is considered not worthy of time or a “fluff” piece [when it comes to the news]. A FLUFF piece? Seriously. That’s hard to believe that something that is helping others is considered fluff to 22 minutes of crime and violence.

Now, I have no profound conclusions or answers, however, I can only image what the world would be like if the positive was the norm and the attention to the negative dissolved.

I prefer the glass half full instead of half empty.

I’d like to see a “reality” show about people helping others (other than Extreme Home Makeover). Make good shows the norm and not shows about parents exploiting their children, or celebrities dancing around like idiots. I love trashy reality TV just as much as the next person, but it's taking over. I find myself watching reruns of old shows to get my wholesome dramas and sitcoms.

I can't change the world, but I can tell a better story.

*Read about the NBC movie here, and watch the trailer below: