Living a Narrative Life: A Review

Everyone has a story to tell. In our fast and busy world, we rarely take the time to listen to each other’s stories or simply to reflect on our own. When I taught Formation for Ministry classes for Central Seminary, I took the time to share a bit of my own story and ask students to share theirs as well, but there was always more there than we were able to process.

Being aware of the power of story, I was pleased to discover Living a Narrative Life: Essays on the Power of Stories by Keith Herron. Herron draws not only on his own extensive experience as a pastor and a counselor but shares his own life story to help the reader understand the value of understanding her or his own life story.

Herron writes, “All of life is a story. This is the richness of life: to know your own stories, to value and understand them with others. In doing so, we are all enriched.” He encourages us to continue to exegete our stories for insights into our own behavior, our relationships with others, and our spiritual formation.

After introducing the concepts of narrative and the emergence of self, he delves into prologue stories--those that joined us at birth--and our evolving story over the decades of life. Each stage of life not only builds on prior stories but has rich insights in its own stories.

Herron’s willingness to share his own stories encourages and challenges the reader to reflect upon and mine insights from life events. I found it easy to engage the questions asked and the “story starters” provided.

This book would be a wonderful resource for small groups, especially ones that are intergenerational in composition. Herron provides guidance for developing such groups. Consider this as a resource for Christian formation or professional development gatherings. I think you will be challenged and encouraged as people tell their stories.

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