Stories Change Lives (2 min vid + text)

Sometimes a fish story can change a life.

Character development changes lives.

Have you ever wondered why people LOVE stories?

Have you ever wondered why stories CHANGE people?

Watch our two minute video (full text below) to answer the questions.

Want to change a life? Tell a story.

Subscribe to “Truth in Two” videos from Comenius (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website), spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), hosts a weekly radio program with diverse groups of guests (1 minute video), interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video).

Picture Credit: Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT BELOW

It was 10 p.m., two hours before bass season opened.  The story is told of a young boy and his dad who were practice-casting in anticipation of the next day.  The lure flashed in the full moon light as the child learned under his father’s tutelage.  Without warning, the next cast hooked a fish.  Reeling it in, two generations gazed on a beautiful bass, the largest either had ever seen.  “Can we keep it Dad?” came the plaintiff cry.  The father lit a match and noted the time on his wristwatch.  “No son.  The season begins tomorrow.”  The boy glanced around the lake.  They were alone.  “But, Dad!  No one will know!  The season begins in two hours!  Please, can we keep it?!”  The father’s insistence was resolute.  Lowering the big bass into the lake the two watched as the animal swam away.

Neither saw a fish that size ever again.  But the boy sees that same fish every time he is asked to cut corners, fudge numbers, or submit half-truths in his job as an architect.

Stories pry their way into our attitude. Stories loosen prejudices. Stories open new vistas of thought. Stories broaden our perspectives on life. Stories help create character.

Character—a person’s internal ethical code—is best developed by story.

Is pride a problem? Read Dr. Seuss’s Yertle the Turtle

Is greed a problem? Read “The Fisherman and his Wife”

Is coveting a problem? Read The Marzipan Moon

Is power a problem? Read “The Sword of Damocles”

Robert Coles in his book The Call of Stories writes: Powerful stories can affect us, excite us, cause us to see more clearly. C. S. Lewis in his essay entitled “On Stories” says simply “The story is the image of the truth.” You see, truthful character is confronted with the image of a fish story every day.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking Truth wherever it’s found.