The Story that inspires all stories by Annmarie Miles

The movie was aptly named - The Greatest Story Ever Told; depicting the life of Jesus of Nazareth told from his birth to his ascension to heaven. There may be some details of the movie itself that are up for debate, but for us as Christians, there is no greater story than the life, death and life of our eternal Saviour. It used to strike me how the setting of this amazing story was so inappropriate. Greatness, glory, universe-changing incidents, taking place in simplicity, poverty, and squalor.

As I continue on my journey with Christ, I find it (a little) easier  to see the significance and dare I say, parallel in my own life. The setting of my transformation is nothing special. I gave my life to Christ in a community centre that my church at the time, met in. Most of the church family were drinking coffee after the service, but four of us were in a corner of the main hall as I said yes to Jesus. I remember being told that there was much rejoicing in heaven. I could not imagine angels high-fiving and chest-bumping each other just because I had become a Christian. But my pastor assured me, in that moment, something glorious had changed in the spiritual realm. I was now part of the greatest story ever told. 

It was on a starry night...

I used to wonder how priests and pastors kept finding new ways of preaching the story of the nativity each year. Now that I'm married to a minister, I see the process he goes through and he shares some of his thinking with me as he is working out what to say and how to say it. It turns out there is no trick, no gimmick, no laboured point needed. This is a story that tells itself, and its wonder speaks for itself. It just needs faithful tellers.

I've mentioned before that my first collection of short stories doesn't mention God (though there is a monk in there). But I wanted to write stories of redemption, second chances, hope, reconciliation and the opportunity to make tomorrow a little better than yesterday. Because I've experienced those things, I wanted my writing to reflect my small part in that great story. And now, when I don't know what to write, I write the greatest story ever told, a life saved, a heart mended, the broken fixed, the slave freed, the poor provided for. 

My plan is to make 2021 another year of  telling the greatest story. 

My prayer is that I may get better at telling it!

 

Annmarie Miles is from Dublin, Ireland.
She lives with her husband Richard who is a pastor in the Eastern Valley of Gwent, in South Wales. She writes short stories, magazine articles, devotional pieces for Christian radio, and blogs about her faith at www.auntyamo.com Her first collection of short stories published in 2013, is called 'The Long & The Short of it'. Her second collection, 'A Sense of the Sea and other stories,' was published in 2018 and in December 2019 she published her first novel, Gorse Lodge. She is currently editing a non-fiction book about being an overweight Christian called, 'Have mercy on me O Lord, a slimmer.'