Welcome

Heart Tales is a monthly newsletter for people on an adventure toward wholeness. It is published by Jim Cyr, storyteller, author, and crisis intervention specialist.

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A Christmas Parable

Abba Abraham was a holy man and a great ascetic. He had eaten nothing but herbs and roots for fifty years. He lived simply and very austerely in total self-discipline.

Well, his brother died and left a niece, and there was no one to care for her. So Abba Abraham took her in and nourished her and cherished her. She grew up to be beautiful both in body and in spirit. She followed Abraham, prayed with him, and was filled with grace.

One day a wandering monk came to hear a word from Abba Abraham and was smitten by the beauty of his niece. While taking advantage of the hospitality offered by Abba Abraham, who was out visiting other monks, he was overcome by lust and raped the poor girl.

She was so mortified and ashamed that she stayed away from Abba Abraham and in fact fled to the city where, feeling so violated and disgraced, she became a prostitute.

In vain did Abba Abraham look for his niece, until he heard one day that she was plying her trade at a certain tavern. Abba Abraham disguised himself as a military man with all the regalia, went to the tavern and ordered bottles of wine and rich meet. He ate to his heart’s content, downed it all to the amazement of the onlookers.

After he finished his dinner, he asked the keeper for the “wench” named Mary: I have come a long way for the love of Mary.” She was brought to him and she did not recognize this hard eating and drinking soldier. He grabbed her and she said coquettishly, “What do you want?”

And he looked her in the eyes and said, “I have come along way for the love of Mary” –and she recognized her uncle and she wept bitterly and returned home with him.

Thought to Ponder

Jesus came a long way for the love of (your name here).

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Your Comments Welcome

Post your comments in the comment box or email them to me at jim@hearttales.net

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Heart Tales News

What’s on My Desk..

Storytelling, Imagination, and Faith, by William J. Bausch. Bausch argues for a recovery of storytelling in the church and gives a plethora of stories to demonstrate his points.

Book

My book, The Cracked Pot: Finding Grace in the Cracks of Child Abuse is available at Amazon.com

“This is one man’s true story of the unspeakable things that were done to him as a child and his rocky journey through adulthood to find God, peace AND his true self.”

About Jim & Heart Tales

The true spirit of my work is to lead people on a life-changing adventure toward wholeness by connecting their hearts to their true selves, to others, and to God, through stories of healing, wisdom, and faith. My life-changing adventure toward wholeness includes performances of folk and fairy tales, sacred stories, and personal stories, and workshops on how to tell stories in therapeutic settings.

Feedback

“Jim’s storytelling spoke to many of the problems our women face on the road to recovery from addiction and gave them options for handling those problems they had not considered before.”
Helen Raytek, Program Director, Crawford House

“Jim, I want to thank you for your time, efforts, and talents in presenting your Clinical Benefits of Storytelling Workshop. I was very impressed with your professional and fun deliverance of the material and many useful resources and examples. I felt I benefited from it both personally and professionally, and will use what I learned…”
John J. D. Schweska, L.P.C. Assistant Program Director, Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen

“…your newsletter is a wonderful resource, and I hope that many will subscribe to it.”
Dr. Robert Bela Wilhelm, Storyfest Ministry

“…Thank you once again, Jim, for sharing your stories/your story and influencing my healing.”
Eileen