In yesterday’s speech Senator Obama distinguished himself with an understanding of the universal power of story — and how essential it is in forging the identity of a people. He recognized how we all enter story and become a part of it. He used the examples of Biblical stories to point this out explicitly. But by using the organizing metaphor of the “more perfect union” he tapped into sacred/secular American story of the creation of the country and its founding document.
He spoke of the Constitution in the way Jews look at Torah — a document we are in relation to and that we’re constantly reinterpreting in order to live our lives to our best understanding of what the divine call us to be. Yet all the while always understanding that no one is perfect, that we all fall short, and that the only way to live with this understanding is with compassion for each other and ourselves.
Most commentators focused on what he said about race. I was taken by what he said about story — because that’s the real story:
“I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories of survival and freedom and hope became our stories, my story. The blood that spilled was our blood, the tears our tears, until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black. In chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a meaning to reclaim, memories that we didn't need to feel shame about, memories that all people might study and cherish, and with which we could start to rebuild.”
This is the power of story — the great tradition of folk tales from all cultures shares this power. And the great storytellers know that when they tell, every listener is also a participant embodying every character and event in the story. Senator Obama is a great storyteller, and he is telling the story Americans most yearn to hear — and to live.
Narrative psychologists say that the story you believe is who you are. Politicians know how to use stories to create fear — certainly the Bush administration and the G.O.P. have made the use of scary stories the keystone of their approach. This is the power of story to divide. To create an enemy we can project all our shadow fears onto.
But story is best used to inspire and build community. Not at the expense of others, but in building connection between all. This isn’t done by papering over difference or division but by recognizing commonality and by peaking to real pain on all sides, transcending it. This is the power of storytelling that Senator Obama knows how to use masterfully. And it is what has made him a formidable candidate. Because people are hungry for this story. It is in fact the story nourishes us.
Senator Obama is telling the story I have always wanted to hear from a candidate. I still wish I liked his health care plans better than Hillary’s.
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