(photo: Robben Island Prison, Michael Coghlan, 2011)
Storytelling is a way to do a few important things. Telling a story is a way of teaching, such that a person gains an awareness of something, or an understanding, insight, or new point of view — the things we associate with instruction and learning in general. Because life is very much a mental experience for us, telling a story has the ability to feed our imagination so that we mentally see things, and even have experiences of those things, even though they are not part of our physical environment. Telling a story can combine its powers of teaching and imagination into an experience that offers people who are incarcerated or in captivity a respite from that bondage, taking their minds beyond the walls of the cell, the bars of the prison, and the twisting blades of razor wire — liberation. Sometimes the walls, bars and wire are a physical reality, and there are also the walls, bars, and wire of mental captivity, especially in addiction, depression, anxiety, and the impacts of violence and trauma. In the toughest situations, a person finds themself in both kinds of captivity.
Let’s review the three basic things storytelling can do for people in captivity, whether real and physical, or in mental captivity:
- Instruction
- Imagination
- Liberation
The parables of Jesus are renowned for their ability to instruct with the use of imagery (e.g. seeds, trees, coins, widows, farmers, etc.), and their ability to liberate in both mental and spiritual ways. Think of your favorite parable, or just one you know about. How does it teach you, engage your imagination, take you to a new place in your mind or heart, or to a new way of seeing?
Recently I attended a meeting where someone shared that they were having a lot of success visiting inmates in the local jail and feeding their interest in renewing their faith, especially with the example of St. Francis of Assisi. Although we didn’t get into it at the meeting, I can see how St. Francis could have a special appeal to people stuck in a situation where you are allowed little beyond the bare necessities of life, and yet still need to find a way to experience a sense of belonging to someone somewhere and finding a way to fill the basic human need for love.
The life and example of St. Francis of Assisi matches up with that situation very well and shows a way to make it work for oneself. St. Francis’ poverty was all about simplifying life so that we can see that having the bare necessities is sufficient. Saint Francis very much explored how much could be eliminated to find the sufficiency of the most simple and few things in life. At the same time, this simplicity and sufficiency wasn’t for its own sake. Saint Francis actually used this simplicity and sufficiency as a spiritual foundation, working from it as the way to deeply experience an unobstructed sense of belonging with Jesus Christ and finding love in that relationship that is to be radiated outward to others and all things in creation. The life and example of St. Francis has a lot of potential to lift up persons in situations of scarcity, even desperation, into seeing the abundance within themselves and their relationship to God in ways that are transformational.
The person describing their experience with the enthusiasm of the inmates for learning more about St. Francis said that he was looking for some kind of short document that he could share with the inmates that would provide them with more information about the life and example of St. Francis, in a way that would keep them feeling enthusiastic if not raise their enthusiasm even more! The group I was in stumbled to name or point to a resource that would fit the need well. Then, it came to me …
There is a very short book … usually small in stature next to other common books on any bookshelf … and even its title is diminutive: The Little Flowers. It is a compilation of short stories (some very short) recounting the life of St. Francis of Assissi and the first Franciscans. Separately from all of the historical and academic books about St. Francis and the Franciscans, the Little Flowers stands on its own as a presentation of the Franciscan wisdom tradition (a.k.a. charism) through stories that illustrate it clearly, understandably and ultimately the best. The book was compiled in the 1300’s mostly from an older collection written by Fra (friar, or brother) Ugolino Brunforte (c. 1262 – 1348). As such, the stories were purposefully written down very shortly after the death of St. Francis in 1226, as the stories in the Franciscan communities that helped bond these communities together. Like other versions of hagiography (stories of the holy, sacred, or saints), they are intended to instruct, provoke the imagination of scenes, and to liberate the listener to a new way of seeing and understanding themself, their relationships, and their world.
Stories of forgiveness figure prominently in the Little Flowers. As a matter of fact, these stories are among the most famous of those included in the Little Flowers. These include a story about a thief who is forgiven for stealing from a hermitage and becomes a transformed person as a result of that forgiveness. In another story, St. Francis reconciles a vicious wolf with a community that it has been terrorizing (the famed wolf of Gubbio). Stories of Brother Masseo emphasize the effectiveness of forgiveness and reconciliation that is betters than punishment for transgressions. The patience and forgiveness of St. Francis himself is modeled and explained in the stories of Brother Juniper.
The possible connections of the forgiveness stories in the Little Flowers to the lives of inmates are probably clear. There is the obvious example of the thief. The story of the wolf of Gubbio may be a symbolic narrative of the relationship between a violent criminal and a community. Remarkably, the story of the wolf of Gubbio includes an explanation that the wolf behaves the way it does because of its needs and because of the unavoidable consequences of being a wolf. The stories of Brother Masseo and Brother Juniper present realistic examples of how to be a forgiving person within a community, even a community where others are by and large unforgiving. Honestly, I cannot imagine a better text to read and discuss alongside inmates who want to learn about St. Francis of Assisi so they can engage in their own reflection and life changes.
Practically speaking, there are multiple ways to organize studying the Little Flowers on a limited budget with inmates, residents, patients, clients, and persons in other settings that limit freedom:
- Copies of the Little Flowers are available online for around $10 and could be purchased for the group. Total Cost = $10 x Number of Group Members
- Buy one copy of the Little Flowers and then photocopy one story at a time for group sessions. Total Cost = $10 x Cost of Photocopies
- Access a free online copy of the Little Flowers and then print one story at a time for group sessions. Total Cost = $0 x Cost of Printing
Group facilitation can be as easy as:
- Open the group with prayer.
- Do your customary group norm setting and your customary check-in process.
- Read the story together, either with a designated reader, taking turns reading, or reading silently each to themself.
- Discussion Question #1: What happens in this story?
- Discussion Question #2: What was your favorite part of the story and why? How did you see it in your mind?
- Discussion Question #3: What does the story teach or make you think about?
- Discussion Question #4: When you think about the story, what parts of it relate to your life?
- Discussion Question #5: Does the story give you an idea or a feeling about your life that helps you see a new way you can live, or see your yourself and your lif ein a new way, or see new possibilities or a new future for yourself?
- Discussion Question #6: What would you like to do, starting today, with what the story made you think about?
- Close the group with prayer.
(artwork: Anastasis — Christ as liberator trampling broken locks and gates, 11th century)
Storytelling is uniquely human, animals don’t do it. It actually humanizes as well, in the sense of making the storyteller and the listener more human by engaging in storytelling. Wantto humanize a situation? — yell a story. Works almost every time!
Storytelling is also a potent combination of the spiritual gifts of wisdom and education (1 Corinthians 12). In many ways, at its best storytelling is exactly that: “wisdom education.” It is called a “spiritual” gift because it is gifted by the Holy Spirit, so that the storyteller may collaborate with the Holy Spirit especially in the salvation of others, and serves charity as care for others (Catechism pf the Catholic Church, para. 2003). This gift, or charism as it is also known as, as both salvatory and charitable, is exactly what people in incarceration or other captivity need. To be a storyteller like that, in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, for the salvation and care of others, is one of the best things one could aspire to and work toward. People in tough situations are counting on good storytellers to show up and loosen their bonds and shackles for them, and maybe even change their lives forever.
Please share these words with someone who needs them today.
This text is an original work of its author Tom Delaney and was entirely composed without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
If your parish or faith community is seeking a deeper experience of forgiveness, healing, mercy, and spiritual renewal, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — he will be glad to connect with you for a conversation. Please type in your email and click “Subscribe” below to stay connected and get Live and Forgive articles delivered to you.
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