Story

Moses tells a great story. Adam and Eve, the Serpent, Cain and Abel, the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel... These are still familiar narratives. He presents vivid characters engaged in conflicts that are resolved in a purposeful and meaningful way. The stories are memorable because they are meaningful.

They are meaningful because they provide individuals and the community a context for what is happening today. Susan Engel, a psychologist at Williams College writes, “We draw upon memories as a source for the present. We dig out, amplify, and create autobiographical material as a way to know and communicate who we are now.” (Engels, Sarah; Context is Everything)

Moses organized the memories of his people. Through stories he gave them a rich sense of where they came from and where they are going. Moses told stories that explained pain and suffering, encouraged self-criticism and self-correction, and described a path to better possibilities.

Many psychologists understand the human brain as a kind of story-engine. We are predisposed to look at events to find causes and connections. We want to know why something happened. If the cause is unclear, we will often create an explanation to ensure some sort of resolution. The stories of Moses explain cause and effect and do so in a way that reinforces individual strength and social unity.

In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, Robert McKee argues, “Businesspeople not only have to understand their companies’ past, but then they must project the future. And how do you imagine the future? As a story. You create scenarios in your head of possible future events to try to anticipate the life of your company or your personal life.”(HBR, Storytelling that Moves People, June 2003)

But most business people are bad storytellers. Instead of stories they use spreadsheets, PowerPoints, and many facts – but little passion and less meaning. They may do a very good job of explaining what is happening, but they do not explain why and why it matters – or what it means – to employees, investors, or customers.

Moses understood the power of stories.

"I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chadeans to give you this land to possess. But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?’… As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendents will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions … When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold a smoking fire pot and flaming torch passed between (the food offerings that Abram had sacrificed to God). On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendents I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis 16, 7-18)

What do you worry about most? There is an answer. It is an answer that includes suffering and sacrifice, but there is the chance of fulfillment.

For many - three millennia later - this story of Moses continues to define their understanding of past, present, and future.