Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Hi everybody. Welcome to the Sparking Dialogue podcast from Generation Spark. My name is John Simon and I'm here for our Feel Good Friday version of our podcast. You've probably gazed at the runtime of this episode and thought, I wonder if there was some kind of audio issue that happened here. Worry not. This is exactly the way it was intended.
[00:00:25] This episode is going to have a little less of an emphasis on that classy back and forth dialogue that you guys are used to. And this one's a little bit more of a kind of a bite sized, fun sized candy bar. Just a quick little devotional kind of meant to just give you a little boost at the end of your work week. So if you will follow along with me in the Book of Psalms, Psalm 78 verses 3 through 8 well, we have heard and known what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children. We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children. So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born. And they in turn would tell their children.
[00:01:26] Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds, but would keep his commands.
[00:01:33] They would not be like their forefathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to Him. You know, my father is somewhat of a Chatty Cathy, or maybe a talkative Tom would be more appropriate. He's a talkative guy, I should say, and I don't blame him for it. It's one of the many attributes that he passed along to me as his son. And trust me, all the people that I get to talk to throughout the week just love all the chatty banter that I'm capable of. Ever the verbal processor, my beloved dad will share quirky anecdotes from everyday life, adventures from his many, many years in the US Air Force, and anything in between.
[00:02:20] But one thing that always stood out to me when I was a kid, when I remember my dad's stories, was that nothing made his eyes light up more than telling stories about home tales of Lake Charles, Louisiana, the sort of swampy Mecca of the Simon family.
[00:02:39] It's where everything began. He would tell me stories with so much detail I feel like I could close my eyes and draw a nearly accurate floor plan of the house he grew up in, with added details for where he and his siblings all slept. The I remember Stories of his dear dog Bullet, may he continue to rest in his decades long slumber. The bitter neighborhood rivalries between families that they would play brutal games of pickup football with, and the summertime antics of him and his childhood friends. At a certain point, my father's stories started to captivate me even more. It wasn't just the love that he was sharing with me, using his unspun yarns as a conduit. It was the fact that within these stories, even the ones that I'd heard many, many times, I started to see a rich heritage in them.
[00:03:34] These were the various puzzle pieces that formed the world that he was shaped by. This was the narrative that shaped the man, who in turn shaped me.
[00:03:44] Eventually, as I got older, it started to hit me with this sudden flash of realization that these weren't just his stories.
[00:03:53] They were my stories too.
[00:03:56] By sharing his background, his foundation with me, he was actually sharing a lineage that had led his life to mine and will one day, Lord willing, continue on to my own children.
[00:04:10] You see, the power of storytelling is truly unbelievable.
[00:04:14] The God of Israel clearly knew this to be true. It's why he insisted that his people keep a clear recollection of their history.
[00:04:23] Not just to reflect on where they've been, but to remember the faithful hand that kept them steady through all those years and all those times of tribulation and triumph.
[00:04:36] In each of us is a powerful story, shaped by the stories of those who walked before us and inherited those stories through them, just as they were shaped by the stories of those who had walked before them. It's this constant unfurling thread of life, full of childhood shenanigans and teenage heartbreak, lost loved ones and powerful ground shaking moments. They're the stories that God doesn't want us to lose.
[00:05:07] So when we consider a ministry like Generation Spark, we aren't solely focused on getting older generations to connect with their younger peers. We're praying for it. An exchange of these stories that reflect the rich heritage of God. We are praying that older generations would feel the same gleam of pride that my dad feels when he reminds me of backyard football and weekends and run oaks. Our longing is not just in stories. It's that the church would get a clearer view of its place as a family gathered at the table of Christ.
[00:05:44] So there's our good word.
[00:05:47] Take some time and meditate on that and we wish you a wonderful rest of your day. Thanks for listening.
