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Three–Sentence Stories for Advent: Writing Short is Fun for All Ages

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3-Sentence Stories: Writing Short is Fun for All Ages

I wrote this post for the website Building Faith, a ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary to offer practical resources for the Christian formation of people of all ages. It was first published on December 11th, 2015.

 

The Power of Three-Sentence Stories ♦
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

For Christians, the above three-sentence story is the essence of our faith: Christ’s victory over death and the promise of his return. Some Christians say these words every time they share bread and wine in the Holy Communion. Even small children can recite and remember these words.

Three-sentence stories are one of my favorite ways to order muddled thoughts. As a Christian formation tool, they give adults and children a safe and playful framework to organize and express ideas. I use 3-sentence stories in workshops and retreats, often as a way for people to summarize what they heard from a passage of Scripture. The stories can be oral or written.

Teaching 3-Sentence Stories
To teach the 3-sentence story form to children, start with a concrete, oral version. Ask them to describe the clothes they are wearing or what they ate for breakfast this morning. Give an example.

I ate one fried egg with a runny yolk.
The toast was too dark and crisp.
My coffee had cream and sugar in it.

When and How to Use this Tool
Three-sentence stories can be written as a private practice, but as a group activity they build community. Try 3-sentence stories in a family setting, a Christian formation class, an Adult forum, a church school class, or youth group. In my experience most people love to read their stories aloud. The collective result feels like a playful and powerful poetry jam. Because the stories are short, many people get to share.

As an Advent and Christmas Activity
Advent lends itself to writing and telling these simple stories. The rich vocabulary, characters, seasonal customs, and Bible stories provide opportunities to use this tool. Here are a few examples:

Tell a 3-sentence story about an Advent practice in your home:

We have purple candles in our wreath.
Purple is the new Red.
Like a traffic light, it signals STOP, wait, pay attention.

Tell a 3-sentence story about a character from the Bible:

Mary was a Jewish teenager.
The angel asked if she would be the mother of God’s son.
Mary said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Prepare Three Sentence Story

 

In Advent we often talk about the word Hope. Write a 3-sentence story about what you hope for.

I hope for great schools and great healthcare for everyone.
I want to see older people have more choices for their lives.
I hope God will help me become a less judgmental person.

Proclaim Christmas in Three Sentences!
Here’s another idea for a 3-sentence story. I want to proclaim the Nativity with as much impact as “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” I want to highlight the miracle of the Incarnation, God’s presence on earth as the flesh and blood human named Jesus. So here is my first draft to capture the power and importance of the Nativity Season –Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany:

Christ is longed for.
Christ is born.
Christ will spread like wildfire.

What is your 3-sentence story for the Nativity Season?

 

 ♦ I first learned about 3-sentence stories from Interplay, “a global social movement dedicated to ease, connection, human sustainability and play.”

“I Could Tell You About Phyllis Tickle…But I Won’t.”

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Phyllis Tickle–author, religionist, scholar, Christian, mother, wife, and friend– died on Tuesday, September 22. As one of Phyllis Tickle’s 1500 (or maybe even 15,000) best friends I have unique experiences and stories to share–as do all of her other 14,999 close friends. She loved both lavishly and deeply and personally. So here are a few teasers from my treasure chest of Phyllis stories. The format I’ll use is:
“I could tell you about ______________, but I won’t.” *

  • I could tell you about emailing Phyllis to tell her about our potential move to Memphis in 2004 and her generous three-page response with the history of the city… but I won’t.
  • I could tell you about how I showed my notebook of doodled prayers to Phyllis at our first lunch together in Memphis and she said, “You’re going to write a book.”
  • I could tell you about not having had a mentor at age 15 or 25 or 35…or until 55 when Phyllis became one for me.
  • I could tell you about how Phyllis mothered me through the process of writing Praying in Color.
  • I could tell you about the instructions she gave me to get rid of the Imposter Syndrome when I felt like a loser and thought I had no business writing a book.
  • I could tell you about my husband Andy and me going to the Farm at Lucy (her home) for 4:30pm dinners so she could be in bed by 7pm.
  • I could tell you about how her husband Sam kicked her out of the kitchen when he retired saying, “I never liked your cooking anyway,” and cooked the meals from then on.
  • I could tell you about eating Sam’s weird concoctions of squash and tomatoes and okra from their garden on the Farm.
  • I could tell you about the hundreds of books on the shelves in Lucy that have dedications and acknowledgments to Phyllis Tickle written in them.
  • I could tell you about how every time I look at my dining room table I picture Phyllis and Sam seated there for a dozen Christmas, Easter, and Birthday dinners.
  • I could tell you about substituting portobello mushrooms for ground lamb in a classic moussaka recipe so vegetarian Phyllis could eat it.
  • I could tell you about how she would read any manuscript sent to her and respond to every email and text.
  • I could tell you about our visit with Phyllis in late April at the Farm and the strawberries, glasses of sparkling water and wine, and goodbye kisses that (unknown to us at the time) would be our last ones with her.Phyllis Last Visit Collage Resized
  • I could tell you about how she emailed Andy and me the following day to say she hadn’t wanted to ruin our visit with the news that she had only four months to live.
  • I could tell you about our shock at the news because she looked so vital and radiant when we saw her.
  • I could tell you about a woman who was unafraid to die because she had done that in her 20’s and had seen the Light.
  • I could tell you about the first ever unanswered text and prayer I sent to Phyllis on September 19.
  • I could tell you about how infinitely grateful I am that she shared herself and her wisdom with so many of us in her four-score and one years.
  • I could tell you about how different my life would be without Phyllis Tickle in it.
  • I could tell you about how I am less afraid to die knowing that Sam and Phyllis have preceded me into the Kingdom of Heaven… but I won’t.

 

* For about 15 years I have been an InterPlayer. InterPlay, founded by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter, is a set of playful practices and structures/forms that build community and reunite us with the wisdom of our bodies and our stories. One of those forms is called “I could tell you about…but I won’t.” It’s a great way to tell a story or relay information and not bore the listener with too many details.

“Thank-you”

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I spent the past weekend at an exciting conference in Anaheim, CA called the LA Religious Education Congress. Over 35,000 Christians, mostly Catholic, gathered to hear speakers, browse the book exhibits, network with new and old friends, and worship together. As a small city of people we waited in long lines to use the restrooms, to ascend the escalators for our workshop locations, and to find a seat in worship.

With so many people in less than a city-sized space we were bound to bump into each other or to inadvertently touch each other. The number of embarrassed and frustrated  “Excuse me“s and “I’m sorry“s I heard and said was legion. I remembered too late what I learned in Interplay—a practice which teaches community-building and body-wisdom through play. In Interplay when we bump into each other we say, “Thank-you!”  Not only does this ironic response dispel the embarrassment but it reminds us that we are “one bread, one body.” (1Corinthians 10:17) When my safely-guarded space intersects with someone else’s, I can decide how to respond. I can be miffed or I can apologize or I can be grateful that two grains from the cosmic loaf have shared a moment of embodied communion.

So I would like to reframe my apologies for the past weekend’s cutaneous collisions and just say “Thank you.”

Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness – Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. 1Corinthians 10:17–The Message