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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The True Voice
Recently, I read a book called Life of the Beloved by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame. Then he left the wolrd of academia and spent ten years at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Toronto where he ministered to physically and mentally handicapped people.
The theme of Nouwen’s book is that we are each “God’s Beloved.” Nouwen writes about how important it is for us as “God’s Beloved” to believe we are blessed by God. He notes that so many of us, far from believing we are blessed, instead believe we are cursed. Nouwen invites his readers to claim their blessedness and then to offer people blessing in the name of God.
As I reflected on Nouwen’s book my thoughts went to the children I work with as a crisis intervention specialist with Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services. So many of these children feel they have been cursed. Cursed because their parents criticize and belittle them instead of love and accept them. Cursed because they have been neglected or abused. Cursed because they have been ridiculed and rejected by their peers. One girl told me, “I am at the bottom of the food chain.”
So I wondered how I can “bless” these children who feel and live as though they are cursed. Nouwen, at the request of some of the residents of L’Arche for a blessing, one time enfolded each one with his arms in the folds of his robe, placed their head on his chest, a pronounced a personalized blessing on them in the name of God. I cannot do that for my clients. But, I thought, I can bless them with a story that let’s them hear that they, too, are Beloved and blessed.
“The True Voice” is a story I wrote to tell the children I work with. I share this “blessing” story with you.
Each time I tell this story I personalize it with the name of the child I am speaking with. For this telling I will use my wife’s name, Carol.
Once upon a time there was a girl whose ears only heard bad things said about her.
People told the girl, “You are smart,” “You are funny,” “You are kind.” But all her ears heard was, “You are no good,” You did something wrong,” “You are a failure,” It’s all your fault,” “You can’t do anything right.”
All day long the girl met people who smiled at her and said, “You try very hard,” “You do a good job,” “You are very clever.” But all the girl’s ears ever heard was, “You are no good,” “You did something wrong,” “You are a failure,” “It’s all your fault,” “You can’t do anything right.”
Even at night when she went to sleep and dreamed, all she heard was bad things said about her, never anything good. So the girl often felt sad, and angry inside.
One day, as the girl was walking down the street, a funny little old man with a twinkle in his eye, rode up on an old rusty blue bicycle and smiled at the girl. The strange old man was wearing a yellow T-shirt and baggy blue jeans held up by rainbow suspenders. The old man slowed down and rode beside the girl as she walked. The old man surprised her when he called her by name.
The old man said, “Carol, put your hand over your heart.” The girl said, “What?” The funny old man with the twinkle in his eye said, “Put your hand over your heart, like this.” The old man took one hand off the handle bars and put it over his heart. Carol put her hand over her heart and looked at the old man wondering who he was and what this was all about.
Then the old man said, “Now listen!” “Listen to what?” Carol asked. “Listen to the True Voice,” the old man said. “What’s the True Voice?” asked Carol.
“What’s the True Voice,” the old man exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “The True Voice is the voice that tells you the truth! It’s not the voices that say, ‘You are no good,’ ‘You did something wrong,’ ‘You are a failure,’ ‘It’s all your fault,’ ‘You can’t do anything right.’ It’s the quiet voice you hear deep inside you, coming from your heart that you feel beating under your hand right now. The True Voice says, ‘You are loved!’ ‘You are special!’ ‘You are important!’”
Carol stopped walking and listened. The old man stopped peddling, put one foot on the ground to balance himself on the bike, and looked at Carol. “Can you hear the True Voice?” asked the little old man.
“How am I supposed to hear such a quiet voice when all those other voices are shouting at me all the time?” asked the girl.
“Well,” the little old man said, first, stand still. Then, listen to the wind, or if it’s raining listen to the rain, or if there’s no wind or rain, then listen to the birds. They will help you hear the True Voice because they will remind you to be quiet and listen to your heart.”
“After you’ve listened to the wind or the rain or the birds for a little bit, put your hand over your heart and listen to the True Voice, the quiet voice deep in your hear that says, ‘You are loved!’ ‘You are special!’ ‘You are important!’”
With that, the little old man with the twinkle in his eye, began to peddle away on his rusty blue bike. As he rode away he looked over his shoulder and said with a smile, “If you practice listening to the True Voice pretty soon it will be much louder thant the other voices.”
Carol stood there watching the strange old man ride away. When the man on the rusty blue bike was out of sight, Carol heard the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees. She stood there listening to the red and orange maple leaves blowing in the wind. Then she put her hand over her heart, stood very still, and listened very carefully. She thought she could hear a very soft voice deep inside saying, “You are loved!” “You are special!” “You are important!” Just then a robin began to sing. And Carol smiled.
Thought to Ponder
Do you hear the True Voice?
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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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What’s on My Desk
Currently, I am reading…
Mark as Story: An Introduction to the Narrative of a Gospel by David Rhoads, Johanna Dewey. Donald Michie. This book shows teachers and students how to read Mark as narrative. It explores how the gospel writer shaped his telling of the story of Jesus through the narrator, setting, plot, and chacters. Tis book is a valuable aid for anyone wishing to tell stories from the gospel of Mark.
Heart Tales News
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.”
Blog
If you enjoy this newsletter, check out The Heart Tales Blog at http://hearttales.net/blog. The blog is published every Monday and Thursday. Check out the current series on Gwinlan’s Harp.
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