“Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves”

Nothing sets humans apart from the rest of creation as our capacity to tell stories. Stories, told like no other creatures (as far as we know) can tell them. In what story do you believe you are living in? The biblical narrative tells the story of God’s intention of creating a world of goodness, beauty, and joy. But evil was having none of that. It used—and still uses—shame as a way not only to change the course of the story but also to devour the entire creation in the process. But the bible also tells us that God gets the last word, and in Jesus undoes the work of shame, retelling God’s story—and along the way, ours as well. This presentation will reveal some of the key elements of our stories, shame’s role in disintegrating them, and how confessional communities become the place where our wounded, shamed stories can be retold in fresh, new ways