Story telling in the current century does not play any significant roles in the life of the modern man, especially in the United States. What happens is that the current parents, grandparents only tell short stories to their children without creating any connection to the past history. Moreover, it is very rare for people to be told stories in the sermons that they get from their various places of worship. The old traditional society was composed of preachers and Imams who were so good at story telling such that they could easily captivate and get the attention of their audiences. The same scenario is also witness in the public gatherings where every speaker fails to give any captivating story in order to get the audience concentration (Stokstad and Cothren, 2012). On the flipside, there were good story tellers among the public speakers who could easily relate their scenarios to old stories that took place in the past. The gatherings would enjoy every speech of the speakers due to their creativity and ability to give captivating stories. The current generation has relegated stories to the level of only being told around the dinner tables and maybe at times in the entertainment areas such as theatres.
In Christianity culture, storytelling began long time ago during the time ago during the Jewish time when the Israelites were still in captivity in Egypt under the rule of pharaoh. Stories were used to strengthen the beliefs and the faith of the Christians during that time. For instance when Nathan wanted to condemn and challenge the actions of David, he had to use a story to achieve that (2 Sam, 12). Similarly, the Jewish people had their annual gatherings that they used primarily to confess their faith in God. During such occasions, there was no formulation of abstract creeds but all that they did was to tell stories that strengthened their faith. For instance, the story of the Israelites was told of how they suffered in the hands of the Egyptians through them being subjected to hard labor and harsh treatment. The Israelites opted to direct their cries to the Lord who saw their oppression and saved them by getting them out of the land of Egypt.
Christmas stories were also told through the use of the nativity scene that symbolized the birth of Jesus. The story of the birth of Jesus also featured the use of a cow’s manger to symbolize the birth of a humble king who was born in such a poor set-up. Moreover, the child was born in a family of poor parents; the father was just a carpenter in Jerusalem and a virgin mother Mary who was just a housewife by then. A story was also told of his hardship that he had to go through in his entire lif4 to save the lives of humanity. Jesus had to undergo crucifixion in order to save the lives of his people.
Within the Islamic culture, the preachers had a way of exerting their influence when it came to the definition of the religious knowledge as well as the Islamic faith. Most of the preachers drew their inspiration from the Sufi mysticism, where most of the emphasis was placed on the internal spirituality. Additionally, the preachers aimed at creating enlighten for their followers by enlightening them on the issue of political hierarchy. The preachers also aimed at giving their followers a taste of lessons concerning good morals in the society. Islamic religious art has over the years been used for the glorification of God. One way through which that has been achieved is through the use of well written Arabic script that is accompanied by floral designs. The Islamic culture also teaches that God is unique and therefore cannot be represented in any way. Moreover, His worship needs direct contact with Him, without necessarily having a intercessors in between.
The Islamic culture on the other hand is composed of stories that were told of some of the most important figures in the Islamic religion. One of those is the story about al-Isra wa al – Mi raj, a story that is told and commemorated every year in the Egypt. The story is told to commemorate the night journey that was undertaken by Prophet Muhammad from the city of Mecca to Jerusalem. Once he got to Jerusalem, the prophet then rode on his wondrous horse also known as the al – Burak, which he used to get to heaven. The Egyptians also told stories of the evil spirits, jinns that existed only in haunted places. Such evil spirits existed in the form of animals or human beings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the use of the pyramids in story telling in Egypt was meant to give a niche of what creativity was all about and also to show that the creativity of storytelling could be inherited from one generation to the other. In the Bryn Athyn works, he demonstrated that stained glasses could be used for other purposes such as giving painting artistically on a stained glass to produce the desired outcome. All are used to tell a story about their specific and unique communities’ beliefs and cultures.
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