Sunday, March 5, 2017
Gen.2:15-17; Ps. 32; Romans 5:12-19
One of the most effective ways to tell a story is to use an example to which your audience can relate. There is this immediate connection. But sometimes this falls apart. My Sunday school class has heard me invoke The Godfather on countless occasions to make some point. It is a very well-told story, after all, about people in all their complexity. Say what you will; the movie offers lots of lessons. As I get older, I am shocked to discover that many people have never even seen this movie, especially young people. This is practically un-American!
My story does not involve The Godfather. But it does involve something that may date me. Remember those little green Gideon pocket New Testaments? The Psalms and Proverbs were also included. Are they still ubiquitous? Seems to me that they used to be.
When I was a teenager, my dad had a small business, and we worked there during the summer. This little green book occupied a conspicuous place in his shirt pocket. During the day he would read from it. I would cast furtive glances his way, and I knew that he was enjoying this somewhat.
This is by no means the entirety of my faith story, but I was certainly provoked to jealousy. It wasn’t only the Gideon Bible, but the fact that he had become a changed individual. I was prone to ask questions. He was eager to share his story. That little green book played a part in this journey that began back then and continues to this day.
–Sam Ciccarello