third order
september 07
---
The First Word
by Karen Osborne
---
One of the conversations I'll never forget came on a very ordinary September afternoon, when a very extraordinary nun leaned forward and told me: "God created the world because he loved storytelling."
I'll never forget that phrase. So much of human religious history and human belief is passed on through story: through parable, Gospel, Taoist tales, and apocryphal stories of the Buddha. When parents tell their children about God, they reach for a children's Bible or use an extended metaphor or allegory of their own. When we explain our own beliefs to others, we often start off with an "it's like..." or "think of this..." In expressions of faith, story is more than common: it's essential.
My own Catholic tradition talks about four different levels of reading Scripture: the literal, moral, allegorical, and eschatological levels. All of these are in operation in the stories that appear in this inaugural issue of Third Order, from real angels that walk the earth to a struggle of faith and justice taking place in one man's head.
The people here are flawed, but, then, we all share some of the same flaws on our journey towards the divine. God created the world because he loved storytelling, and because we love storytelling, we -- readers and writers -- can draw closer to the divine.
site info
© 2007 Karen Osborne. Design by Andreas Viklund.