It sounded like a freight train coming through my window.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. August 29 was the first anniversary since Hurricane Katrina. This weekend, we spent time with dear friends and their young children. Anniversaries, common trauma and deep relationships always emphasize a great truth to our collective experiences. On blogs and newspapers, in hallways and classrooms and around lunch tables today, people will gather and tell their stories of the September 11, 2001.

Most of us do not have first hand stories from New York or D.C. Most people did not witness the attacks. Few of us actually knew people killed or trapped. All of us have stories to tell.

Storytelling is the fundamental human trait. Every person has a story to tell, and every person wants an audience. Stories compel us all to speak our own. Not everyone has the capacity to articulate their stories. Some people fall victim to an absent audience. Even so, to articulate a story into the world validates a human being and the human’s experience. Even more, to launch a narrative into the cosmos, or even to reincarnate a tired tale to a new listener is to cooperate with the Creator.

The Lord spoke the World into existence. John introduces his story of Christ by declaring that Christ is The Story, the logos, the word, the tool of storytelling. The New Testament is not the constitution of a new religion but the Story of Christ. The Story, not the procedure, is the good news.

Telling a story contributes to the spirits in the universe. Storytelling animates matter and is the quick fiber binding human souls to the Divine Soul. Stories are functions of creation, and receiving stories is a grace of worship. The one who hears and who reads ministers to the narrator. Listening effects the creation.