As a loving Father, God has not only provided us with a family setting in which to grow up. He also has a will for his family, a plan, a lovingly thought out destiny. His plan is the world’s true story and by it we gauge our own progress and find an anchor for life’s many storms. Those who are members of the Catholic Church step into a new corporate and personal story which can only be understood and lived in the context of family.

All throughout history people have had a natural tendency to frame experiences in terms of a drama or story. This desire, common to all of us, is very important for understanding both the Bible and our own lives. We tend to approach the Bible and life assuming that both will make perfect sense, both complete with introduction, body, and conclusion. We were born, we will grow up and find that beautiful mate with whom we will live happily ever after, then discover the right occupation, raise two-point-five perfect children and finally retire with adequate funds to take us through the golden years. In the same way, we expect to pick up the Bible and read it cover to cover with the story-line hitting us squarely in the face. Neither our lives nor the Bible are quite so simple.

William Kilpatrick explains:

“the same impulse that makes us want our books to have a plot makes us want our lives to have a plot. We need to feel that we are getting somewhere, making progress.”

William Kilpatrick, Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right from Wrong [New York: Touchstone, 1993], 192

Perhaps this desire accounts for our being drawn to novels that take the form of a journey or adventure such as The Odyssey, Moby-Dick, Swiss Family Robinson, or motion pictures like Love Story or Rudy, the story of an unlikely football hero.

A Comprehensive Storyline

Indeed, good stories are powerful. They provide us with a path, an opportunity to make better sense of our lives. Many times stories alert our hearts to the fact that life is a journey, a quest that goes beyond merely surviving. But many find themselves tired, empty, living day-to-day without a story. Kilpatrick observes:

[When we] turn our attention to those who attempt suicide, we find that the problem is not so much that they have lost their self-esteem but, more importantly, that they have lost the narrative thread of their lives. Life has become pointless, without plot or direction. We are willing to endure suffering when the suffering has meaning, but meaning is exactly what is absent in the case of a potential suicide. When suffering can be set within a narrative scheme, we manage to keep going; but if life itself is pointless, why put up with its thousand mockeries and cruelties?”

ibid., 194

Our desire and fascination with stories suggests that there is an ultimate story of which we are an integral part, a story to which we are drawn that is bigger than ourselves. As man’s longing for God provides evidence for his existence, so the ultimate story, written by God, is evident by our endless search for a plot in which we can envision ourselves participating in a way that will make sense of our lives.

St. Augustine once said concerning our need for God, that “our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 30). We could also say that no story will leave us with a sense of completeness and belonging until we enter his story. For his story provides the comprehensive story-line by which every life finally makes sense. Ironically we often find ourselves resisting our heavenly Father much like a teen resists being identified with parents at a high school function. We wrestle with those who are there to nourish and teach us.

You are invited to come on this family adventure. Along the way you will begin to see why God created you and what your future holds. Look for new parts in this series on Saturdays in August.

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 You May Also Like:

God’s Story Is Your Story: Part 1

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God’s Story Is Your Story, Part 2: The Family

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The Power of Story [Abiding Together Podcast]

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 Fr. Mike on Evangelization: Telling the Story of God’s Love [Video]

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Jeff Cavins is passionate about helping people understand Scripture and become disciples of Jesus Christ. Though he was born Catholic, Jeff went to Bible school and served as a Protestant minister for twelve years before reverting to the Catholic Faith. He then quickly became a leading Catholic evangelist and author. Jeff is best known for creating The Great Adventure Bible study programs published by Ascension, which have been used by hundreds of thousands of people to engage in Scripture in a life-changing way. Some of his recent projects include The Activated Disciple, The Jeff Cavins Show (his podcast), and the Great Adventure Bible studies, Ephesians: Discover Your Inheritance, and Wisdom: God’s Vision for Life.

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This post is an excerpt from “His Story is Your Story” by Jeff Cavins, a chapter in Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God, published by Emmaus Road Publishing. It was first published on The Great Adventure Blog, The Ascension Blog’s former home, on July 16, 2015 and has been modified to fit The Ascension Blog’s style. Learn more about The Great Adventure Bible studies here.

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Featured image, The Boyhood of Raleigh (1870) by John Everett Millais sourced from Wikimedia Commons

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