What Kind of Day Has It Been
Aaron Sorkin is my favorite storyteller — at least when it comest to screens. Sorkin is the creator of the West Wing. He also wrote for The Social Network, Steve Jobs, The Newsroom and then there’s Sports Night.
When I see that Sorkin has worked on a new movie or show, I freak out a little, start breathing again and make plans to see and internalize whatever his next project is. Seriously. I own every episode of the quickly-canceled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and I love it. The man is a genius. But then, I’m definitely biased.
So when I turned to two staff members at St. Peter’s yesterday and said, “I feel like, if Aaron Sorkin was writing a show about a church, he would write about us this week,” that was a more lofty statement than either of them realized.
We’ve had people welcome strangers into their homes, help neighbors rip out water-damaged walls and floors, gather supplies for families and children, share meals and go all out at high speed to help people. There’s still a lot of work to do. It’s going to be that way for a long time, but I am hopeful because of the people I have seen take action these weeks.
And behind the scenes — we’ve had the typical walk-and-talk meetings that define a Sorkin creation. There has been all sorts of fast-paced, witty conversation that comes right around to revealing something deep and meaningful about humanity. The level of intellect in these leaders is both intimidating and exhilarating to keep up with.
All this is taking place because these are people impacted by a great story. And it’s the best story the world has known.
Matthew 13:1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. - The Message
The people of St. Peter’s know what it’s like to join those crowds by the sea, to look longingly at the boat and to dissolve into the intensity of Jesus’ storytelling. Stories of a farmer who keeps planting even though he knows better, stories of finding a great treasure and doing everything to hold onto it, stories of the slight becoming significant.
The thing is, when you take in a good story, and it goes through your own personalized fermentation process, you’re changed. Permanently.
That’s why I like to think of myself on my best days as a cross between Dan Rydell and Josh Lyman. Even if I’m probably more like Toby Ziegler than I’d like to admit. Aaron Sorkin did that to me.
The people of St. Peter’s are doing something to me too. I’m so thankful.
And then, what is there left but to tell that story through any means necessary? That’s what I see our church doing. In truth, that’s what I see so many churches coming together to do, but I get the best front-row view of ours.
I love the people at St. Peter’s. They are master storytellers. I admit, I’m biased, but so is anyone else who has encountered them these weeks. They restore my soul.
