J.R. Briggs

Give Me a Story

February 3, 2010

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Give Me A Story

you want a statement to sum up the mission of God

go ahead

find your statement

make one up to help you

feel secure inside your safety cage of words

belted in by cords of cliches

locked up by logos lifted from sunday school memories.

but give me a story

give my friends a story

so that they are not sentenced to meaningless lives.

dont give me a story that I can easily believe in

give me a script that I struggle to understand

that stretches my faith,

that demands life insurance

give me a story that will rip me from my career

and pummel me into a quest beyond my capabilities

i need something worth dying for

i have most of my life left to give

but I need a story worthy of my investment.

give me a story that I can touch

and smell

a story with real people

a story with a face.

my role

my place

my script

because I am
preselected

to be a player

in this story that rolls its plot out in front of me

likearunawaycarpetunravellingfasterthanicanrun

in more directions than I can predict

in more colors than I can comprehend

a story that woos out my potential

and calls me

out of myself

to be who I really am.

give me A story

give me THE story

give me MY story.

tell me that God is bigger than you

BIGGER than your statements of ink

BIGGER than your powerpoint animations

than your projections of numbers

that make you impressed

but that make God stoop.

give me a story that

makes me gloriously

a l i v e

to the purpose of God

makes me run without breath to keep up with His spirit

and at the same time

inviting me to
dance

slowly

erotically

with

God

in an
end
les

s

m

o

m

e

n

t

of warm passion

nesting me in peace

and safety.

tell me the story in new words

so that I dont trip over lame phrases of impotence

so that my mind does not vanillarize

over trivial expressions

used mindlessly by millions

who use words to steal mystery

from a transcendent God

who speaks freshly

with new mercies every morning

!surprises!

that awaken me from sleep mode

that spark in me new thoughts

dreams of impossible feats

daring adventures

miracles of the Almighty

performed by the hands

and prayers

of backstreet

backstage

people
in goodwill rags.

you want a statement?

go ahead

i dare ya

double-dare ya

to box up The Omnipotent

to catch the Spirit of God

to nail the Son

on a cross-word puzzle.

go ahead and try

but I wont hold my breath

and you wont hold the mission of God on a bumper sticker.

-Andrew Jones

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