Most birthdays begin with a heightened awareness of time slipping away. And historically—since I started drinking coffee a few years ago, I post up in a coffee shop for a few hours to write a ‘life statement’. These are free-for-alls as I write and describe vocation, passion and retell the story of the past year. They get really long as I ramble and let the words flood a few pages. The usual theme hangs around thoughts of Jesus, alternate ways, discovery and even storytelling.
About five years ago I was putting together a series of talks together with a friend that walked through the text of Matthew. This is the gospel that is a kind of manual for being a disciple. I hate the idea of the bible being an instruction manual but it is as if you read Matthew and are invited to see yourself following Jesus. We were thinking through what to name the series and I began confidently by saying we should call the series, ‘Matthew’, for obvious reasons. Matthew is held together by five loaded teachings of Jesus. He is talking about the law and life and how the two are so connected and is telling all sorts of stories. So my friend said, “What about ‘Storytellers’?” It assumes that in telling Matthew’s story of Jesus and the stories he told we would be ourselves entering into something and recasting these stories as storytellers. That is to say when you find yourself following Jesus you find yourself telling stories.
This year I didn’t write a really long life statement. In fact it was more like a description of life as it is. It was a vision for life that brought the lofties to float like a feather pillow. Things where just hitting the ground and life seemed to be inviting me to rest my head, finally.
Two months have past since I turned 25. But I was in a meeting the other day sharing with some friends about artistic influences and how I understand life and the creative process. We all went around and shared, it was really cool. I talked about inductive reasoning and the trail and horizons and daily drab… you know. Then a friend said something like, “Tell them what the ‘white blazes’ mean.” I went back and read my concise-type life statement because this statement evoked a kind of holy awareness of what I have felt called to be. Studying the sign posts the blazes that are represented in stories and beauty and love and creation that mark a path Jesus is walking has been a burden I don’t take lightly. I’m a storyteller of sorts. Listen to this anthem one or two more times and say it slowly.
tell them what the white blazes mean
tell them what the white blazes mean
