CHRISTMAS & THE POWER OF STORIES

By Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka

Stories are powerful. 

Today, December 25th, Christians worldwide commemorate a story: that of the birth of a child in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago. It was the beginning of a story that became the foundation of Christianity. 

Indeed, most religions are based on stories. It is the faith in the stories that form the foundation of global religions such as Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. If you take away the stories, it is likely that these religions will crumble. 

It is therefore important to immortalize these stories in order to feed humanity’s need for faith, which creates communities. 

Our world is based on stories: stories of evolutions, empires, parallel worlds, conquests, everyday experiences, fairies, etc. 

These stories can engender “imagined communities” – to borrow from Benedict Anderson – that in turn create our collective existence. These “imagined communities” become the foundation for tribes, clans, religions, nation-states, regional organizations, etc. Stories that evoke values and beliefs.

Nation-states are largely based on stories of common experiences and aspirations that make individuals imagine they belong to this “common community” called the nation-state. Most members of this “common community” have and will never meet and know each other personally. But they pledge to common stories that are perpetuated through school curriculums and society’s folklores. 

They are represented by symbols such as national flags and anthems that evoke and eulogize the common stories. By themselves, the national flag and anthem are nothing more than a painted piece of cloth and a song. It is the stories that give them meaning and life. 

The power of stories is evident in our societies. In our stories, the past and the present are intertwined, influencing each other. There is no lineal binary. These stories influence how we relate with each other, with our ancestors, with the environment around us, with other living creatures, and with other beings.

I come from Avuavu on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands. Near our village, there is a large fresh water lake called Laovi. Our stories tell us that the lake was formed when a pet eel belonging to a woman and her daughter was killed by men from the main village and cooked in a umu (earth oven) for a feast planned for the next day. The distraught mother and daughter sat next to the umu and wept. The villagers thought they were crazy. In the middle of the night, the eel spoke from the umu and told them to leave the village and climb the hills to the east. They did. That night, water came out of the umu and drowned the village and its inhabitants. It formed Laovi Lake.

For us, this is the truth. It’s not a myth. It is what influences how we relate to Laovi, the creatures that live there, tambu sites in the lake, and to each other. 

Although this story did not start a global religion, it influences our faith in a place and illustrates the power of other living creatures, and the importance of relationships. 

As we celebrate the Christmas holidays, let us remember the power of stories. Christmas is the story of the birth of a child who went on influence our world. 

But as we embrace and commemorate this Judeo-Christian story, it is also important to remember that we also have stories. Important stories that define who we are. 

As the Native American scholar/writer, Thomas King, says, “the truth about stories is that, that is all we are.” 

Abandon our stories and we cease to exist.

That is the power of stories.