Everyone has a Story to Tell!

We each have a story in life that is as unique as our fingerprints. Behind every seemingly ordinary person is some extraordinary tale that contains a variety of experiences that really matter. We can easily look at the people who seem most significant in any cohort of community and ascribe to them as having the greatest importance of experiences and knowledge. Every group has its' leaders, speakers, doers, to-the-front people in roles ascribed or personally taken. In many situations, they are the best people for the roles concerned, but everyone else matters also and deserve to be given credence for their opinions and experiences regardless of where they might seem to stand on the rungs of society's ladder.

How do we look at people as we enter each day? If we look at them anew, we will have ears to listen and hearts to really hear. Today just might be the day that they need to be heard or need help. Today might be the day when someone we encounter incidentally may have the answers to some question that we may have. Today may be the day when we meet a new person who might become a new friend! Today might be the day when we see someone we know well in a very new way! Today may be the day that we may hear some part of the sacred story of someone who lets us into the place where their most precious uniqueness holds its' marks. Today may be the day when we may have what it takes to meet someone else's needs or vice versa. Such encounters often connect with some part of our own story too.

There is no such person as an ordinary one! We are all created with great purpose and gifts and talents that benefit ourselves and others. Every single one of us has something unique to offer to the conversation, the company in which we sit and the world. We have a mark to make on the world that matters, no matter how small it might be. There never will be another you or me! We each have a unique story that matters in both the big picture and the small picture of the world! We each make ripples through our words, actions and presence. May the lines of our life's story told and heard be like ripples that sooth or stir the heart of another in this day.

Cathy Burke,
Catechist in the Lucan Partnership of Parishes