麻豆约拍

Good morning.

<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Mark Twain鈥檚 first story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published on this day in 1865. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. He went on to be lauded as the "greatest American humourist of his age鈥� and his words of wit and satire are much quoted to this day. One of my favourite Mark Twain quotes is 鈥淲riting is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.鈥� It鈥檚 clear that the great teller of the stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn understood the power of words.

I believe in the power of story to change the world. Since earliest times, human beings have sat down in a circle around a fire and told each other stories. And the stories they told defined who they were, what they believed, what was right and what was wrong. I recently led a storytelling workshop with international students in Germany. We explored the role of storytelling in peace building in countries experiencing conflict.

It was remarkable to hear people from Syria, Bosnia, Nigeria and Iran describe the ancient storytelling tradition in their own culture and to hear how today鈥檚 generation around the world is using digital media to share their stories. The students shared their own compelling stories of peace and reconciliation.

There鈥檚 a Native American saying that 鈥橧t takes a thousand voices to tell a single story鈥�. I believe we can create a web of stories on a massive scale to change the accepted narrative from war to peace, and without dropping a single bomb. That鈥檚 the power of words.

听

Lord God, inspire us today to share stories of hope and forgiveness that move us away from war and toward peace, Amen.