And I said to him:
Are there answers to all of this?
And he said:
The answer is in a story
And the story is being told.
And I said:
But there is so much pain
And she answered, plainly:
Pain will happen.
Then I said:
Will I ever find meaning?
And they said:
You will find meaning
Where you give meaning.
The answer is in a story
And the story isn’t finished.
-Pádraig Ó Tuama, “Narrative theology #1”
Sometimes we struggle to find meaning—especially in times of pain or in periods of transition. And we can feel so burdened by life that we can hardly bring ourselves to ask the big questions.
In such times there is great comfort to be found in stories—in sharing our stories and hearing the stories of others. In doing so, we connect to the collective consciousness. We see that our story is one of so many stories that have known joy and loss and confusion and growth.
And maybe we recognize that meaning isn’t always found in answers; maybe it is found in living our stories, being present in our stories, and remembering that each new breath brings freshness, because as Pádraig Ó Tuama writes, the story isn’t finished.
Tara Zafft, Ph.D. 