The Gift of Story picks up where Ralph Milton's live StoryFest events leave off. Those events - led by gifted musicians, artists, and storytellers Linnea Good, Don McNair, Allison Rennie, Donald Schmidt, as well as Ralph Milton - were designed to provide a spiritual "shot in the arm, focusing on evocative Bible stories and personal faith experiences."
In this companion book, Milton shares insights about storytelling related to themes ranging from mythology and human identity, to social justice, changing from the inside out, tragedy, awe and mystery, hope and promise, and more. But the story is always central; the story is always "the thing."
The videos include key biblical stories about seminal biblical characters - Aden and Eve, Jonah, the prodigal, Mary and Elizabeth, the Ethiopian eunuch, Zacchaeus, Mary of Magdalene, Sarah...and more.
In The Gift of Story, Milton romps through a lively reflection on what stories mean to humans, "the story-telling animal," how we can all tell stories to enrich our lives and rejoice in the complementary roles that stories and the logic of science play in our lives. It's a fun read full of lively, refreshing stories and insights.